Inheritance
by Atomix330
Summary: The trials and tribulations of being Harry Potter; inheriting a substantial fortune and becoming the richest wizard in Britain...what do you do with it all? Is it all it seems? Possible H/Hr, NO R/Hr, HP/GW or HP/Multi. Credit goes to Rowling for all of the characters you recognise. I'm merely playing with them. Highly re-edited as of 30-09-14.
1. Chapter 1 - A Letter from Gringotts

**Inheritance; Chapter One – A Letter from Gringotts**

_A/N: Hello! And welcome to my first foray into the delights of Harry Potter fanfiction. I hope you enjoy reading about the trials and tribulations of receiving an inheritance and subsequently becoming the richest wizard in Britain. This is all set post-Hogwarts from Harry's 21__st__ Birthday. This being a work of fanfiction, I have taken liberal artistic licence in the matter Wizarding law. In my world, although the age of majority is 17, a young witch or wizard cannot inherit property or titles until the age of 21. Some characters may end up OOC and Ron and Hermione will not end up together, neither will Harry and Ginny. But onwards and let us begin, in the kitchen at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place… _

* * *

Dear Mr Potter,

It is our humble duty to inform you that upon your 21st birthday, you have inherited the assets, holdings and fortune of the Potter family. You also inherit, as head of the House of Potter and House of Black, the titles, styles and privileges of; "Lord Potter, Head of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter" and "Lord Black, Head of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black". Your new ennoblement allows you to take ownership of the hereditary seats of the respective houses you represent on the Wizengamot. However, as you may only personally vote from any one seat when the Wizengamot is in session, you may appoint a proxy to represent the House of Black or House of Potter depending on your choice of secondary title.

Before today, your only holdings in our care were in vault 687 of our London branch, namely your Trust fund, set up by your parents before you were born with a total value of 342,943 galleons, 15 sickles and 4 knuts. This has now been moved to vault 777, the Potter family vault with a total cash value of 5,944,847 galleons, 3 sickles and 25 knuts. The fortune of the Black family remains in the Black family vault; vault 711. This has a current value of 3,453,626 galleons, 6 sickles and 9 knuts.

In addition to this, you inherit the remaining contents of the Lestrange family vault – vault 804. This is due to the fact that the Lestrange family line has been declared extinct and you are the closest living relative. Vault 801's contents have a total value of 1,324,521 galleons and 21 knuts.

To summarise, your total holdings at Gringotts bank total 11,065,938 galleons, 11 sickles and 1 knut and you are authorised to access vaults 687, 711, 777 and 801. This does not include the various properties, precious stones and metals and other items that Gringotts holds in trust for you. To claim these items and properties you are requested by the bank to visit the London branch as the documentation for these items can only be transferred in person. We invite you to make an appointment with:

_Wistnok Goblin, Goblin-in-Charge_

_Inheritance, Property and Estate Department, _

_Gringotts, London _

We await your owl, at your earliest convenience, stating the time for your appointment.

Yours Sincerely

Pogrook Pronick

Head Goblin

Gringotts Bank, London

* * *

Harry was rereading the letter from the bank for the fifth or sixth time that day in the kitchen of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place which was now returned to its former glory. No longer did the stuffed heads of long since decapitated house elves grace the hall or the troll leg umbrella stand sit by the front door. Harry, with the assistance of a very willing Kreacher and Hermione had finished the restoration work the summer after the war. Unfortunately, they had not yet been able to remove the portrait of Sirius' mother Walburga Black who had muttered insults whenever somebody walked past. Only until Harry threaten to blast her from the wall did she finally shut up, and that was only enforced by the fact that Harry later cast an extremely powerful silencing charm upon her. Walburga was quickly silent and in fact slightly appreciative of the fact that the London family home was being restored.

No longer did doxys nest in the curtains or boggarts live in drawers. The whole house looked much cleaner and more ordinary, like it's neighbours at number eleven and number thirteen. Inside, Harry had Sirius' and Regulus' bedrooms restored so they were usable. Sirius' bedroom almost became a small museum to him and the other two Marauders – Pettigrew the traitor was erased from history. Regulus' room was turned into a guest bedroom. Harry took to calling the room he originally stayed in when he first came to Grimmauld Place in the summer of fifth year his own. However he did replace the aging bed with a new one from a furniture shop in Diagon Alley after his attempts at constructing flat pack furniture failed miserably.

It was Harry's twenty-first birthday today and he was throwing a party at Grimmauld Place for his friends who he considered family. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Luna, Dean, Seamus, George, Bill and Fleur – basically most of the students in Dumbledore's Army who had survived the Wizarding War even Percy and his girlfriend Audrey. He had invited Mr and Mrs Weasley, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Professors Slughorn, Sprout, Flitwick and McGonagall and Andromeda Tonks but they all graciously declined saying that they were a bit too old for the party and that Harry should celebrate those of his own age – nevertheless they passed on their birthday wishes and gifts which were currently sitting on the dining room table. Professor McGonagall said he could use the Hogwarts house-elves and the kitchens to help with the catering as they would otherwise have nothing to do during the summer. Kreacher was currently in Scotland, supervising the actions of the largest population of house-elves in Britain with military precision. Hagrid had said he would drop by later to deliver his gift in person.

The letter from Gringotts was a surprise, he hadn't expected to inherit anything further from his parents or godfather and he certainly hadn't expected to inherit the Lestrange fortune. He didn't want the latter, Bellatrix had killed Sirius before being killed by Molly Weasley in the Battle of Hogwarts – Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange were eaten by Aragog's descendants when they tried to flee Hogwarts once Voldemort had been defeated.

Thankfully it was the only letter he had received that morning. Harry and his friends had a standing arrangement with the Ministry of Magic called OwlRoost to deal with his copious amounts of post that he received from the Magical World every day. This was ever since he had received a number of cursed cards, parcel bombs and packages of undiluted bubertuber pus. The Ministry would screen his mail and he would gradually sort through it. Harry's birthday and the run-up to Christmas could see quite literally thousands of items of mail passing through OwlRoost and he taken to at the very least looking at everything that was ever sent to him, yet he rarely replied to his fans and often donated many of the gifts they sent to him to charities or St Mungo's.

What made things worse was the fact that this year, Harry became an 'eligible' bachelor. Harry would become the George Clooney of the Wizarding World. In the eyes of most, the age of 21 was seen as the age at which a wizard could start to think about marriage. Legally at the age of 21, Harry could inherit property and the rest of his family's fortune to complement his already impressive trust fund. So he had been told to expect many proposals and contracts offered by pureblood families for the hands of their daughters. Harry of course intended to ignore all of them but he had been told that he would have to pay the common courtesy of at least reading each and every proposal or contract and then rejecting the ones from whom he knew in writing.

The only exceptions to the OwlRoost rules were letters being carried by his own owl, owls on a specific personal list of exceptions and official Ministry owls. Gringotts' use of eagles also exempted them from the system due to the use of a different species of avian mail carrier. In the case of Harry's letter a particularly fine bald eagle had swooped into Grimmauld Place, dutifully executed its task and then taken to the air once again. All of his friends in any case had been told to bring any cards or presents in person or to send them along with someone who was attending the party.

Harry's train of thought was interrupted by a loud crack as Kreacher appeared in the room. "Happy Birthday Master Harry! Kreacher has brought Master Harry a gift," said the very excited house elf, Regulus' locket bouncing on his chest, before presenting Harry with a neatly wrapped parcel. Harry's birthday had quickly become one of Kreacher's favourite days of the year as it gave him a chance to display and develop his fine culinary skills in front of a wide audience. The parcel was about the size of a shoe box but felt quite weighty. Harry shook the box, nothing rattled within it. "Open it Master Harry!" the elf urged.

Harry removed the brown paper covering to find a heavy mahogany box with silver hinges and a silver plaque on the lid with the words _"Black – Toujours Pur"_ engraved upon it in ornate letters. Inside, Harry found a solid silver representation of the Black family crest laying on a bed of purple velvet. Inside the lid, there was another, larger plaque upon which the names of every head of the Black family was engraved. He could see his name had been newly added below the name of his godfather and Regulus before him. The list went back over 800 years to Agusto Romulus Blaec. The silver was gleaming – most likely thanks to Kreacher who despite being Harry's house elf, was still loyal to the old family.

"This is the _original_ Black family crest," declared Kreacher in a reverential tone. "You is now head of the family Master Harry, m'lord."

"M'lord?"

"You is now Lord Black, Harry Potter m'lord."

"Right, Kreacher, you can keep calling me Harry, none of this m'lord stuff…" Harry replied, determined not to change in light of his inheritance. "Anyway, about today, when are my friends due to arrive? How is the food getting on?"

"Your friends Sir are due to start arriving very soon Master Harry. Miss Hermione has already left home, she is driving here. Everyone else is apparating or using the Floo Network. The Hogwarts elves will be sending their culinary creations over shortly under my guidance. The cake is undergoing final preparations." Harry smiled slightly, he should have expected Hermione to drive. Her car was here pride and joy: a little Rover Metro in crimson that she had magically restored from a rusting hulk. She had bought it for a song and now it was sat in pride of place in the basement garage of the City apartment block her flat was in. The flat would have cost a lot for an upper middle class dentist's daughter but since leaving Hogwarts, Hermione had balanced studying for a muggle degree at Oxford with a well-paid job within the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures (affectionately labelled "the zoo" by other Ministry employees) – she had graduated and now was working full time. So the flat was within her budget seeing as the galleon was some eight to fifteen times more valuable than the pound – the exchange rate regularly fluctuated. Hermione loved muggle London, especially lit up at night like a Christmas tree. Harry smiled even more when he thought about the traffic in muggle London, and then about Hermione stressing out in the congestion about being late.

Harry looked back down at the letter from Gringotts. It had been printed on pale green headed paper (_Gringotts Wizarding Bank, London Branch, Diagon Alley_) and then elegantly signed off in dark green ink. He immediately sent back a reply with his owl Aura (breeze in Latin) – Hedwig's successor was also a Snowy Owl, but Aura had more black speckles in her feathers. He wrote that he was most surprised by this latest development and that he would drop by on Tuesday morning at ten to discuss matters with the goblins.

* * *

As it turned out, Hermione was the first to arrive. He welcomed her with a warm, friendly hug on the front door step – despite working in the same place (Harry had since completed training as an auror with Ron) they rarely saw each other.

Ron and Hermione had become a couple soon after the end of the battle but had soon realised that with the end of the war they had grown and developed and any thoughts of a relationship between them had died a quiet death. They had parted amicably. However since the separation, there had been a quiet rumour doing the rounds of the Ministry that Hermione still held a candle for Harry ad that if Harry had wanted a relationship, all he had to do was ask. Harry knew of the rumour, as did Hermione, but both had quietly agreed to wait and see what happened. Ron was still single, although some said that he still had eyes for Lavender Brown. The Golden Trio were still the best of friends.

The Harry-Ginny relationship also didn't survive much longer after the war and finally died when Ginny had gone on to secure a position at the Holyhead Harpies. She was now living on Anglesey for most of the year.

Hermione being the only one to arrive 'muggle-style', arrived alone. "Happy Birthday!" she beamed as she shoved a small bag of presents into his hand. "Wait right there, I've got some more stuff in the car for the party tonight." She went back to the Metro and extracted a crate of what looked like champagne from a mix of muggle and magical vineyards. She also brought a large cake box back into the house. "The champagne was from my trip to France at Easter – I got bottles from all over the place," she explained as she placed the wine crate on the dining room, "and I've got a crate of red waiting in the car if we need it."

"Honestly Hermione, it will be plenty – I brought some stuff out from the cellars earlier and unless we want to see Neville and Seamus drunk out of their minds singing something from the Weird Sisters we have got enough."

"I also brought a cake. I hope you've got the food ready, the others will be here soon and you know what Ron's like…" she laughed.

"Professor McGonagall graciously let me borrow the talents of the Hogwarts house elves and the kitchens, Kreacher will bring the food over…" but Harry stopped when saw Hermione's face fall at the mention of house elves. "Hermione, she assured me that the elves would be happy with this sort of thing – they have nothing to do all summer. Besides it's not as if they are being coerced into cooking. Their food is brilliant!" he reassured his friend, his mind fondly cast back to the days of SPEW and the House Elf Liberation Front. "Anyway, I have a hunch I may be getting more soon…"

"What do you mean more? More house elves? How?"

"I got a letter from Gringotts earlier, I'll explain later." Harry replied as a sea of red hair apparated on to his door step; Ron, Ginny, George, Charlie, Percy, Bill and Fleur.

"Happy Birthday mate!" Ron gave him a man-hug and putting his present on to the table. "Mum and Dad send their love and asked me to give you this and Mum baked this for you." He put the cake on the table next to Hermione's and gave a small wooden box to Harry. He then greeted the other Weasleys. George had with him a huge bag of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes which he placed on a chair alongside the now growing pile of presents including a new dragon hide cloak from Charlie, a season ticket for Quidditch games with the Holyhead Harpies from Ginny including an enchanted miniature model of the team, and a small box from Percy who greeted him with a somewhat awkward handshake – Harry hadn't quite forgotten his attitude from fifth year.

"Give him a hug Perce!" called out George as Charlie and Ron shoved him into Harry. Harry just laughed.

The rest of the guests arrived in due course, each presenting them with their gifts until Harry was left with a sizeable pile of carefully wrapped presents on his dining room table. They were unwrapped following one of the finest meals Harry ever had the fortune to consume from the Hogwarts house elves under Kreacher's command. They had also made a cake in the shape of a Gryffindor lion clutching an equally edible snitch with beating wings. The wings were enchanted pieces of gold leaf shaped into the wings of a snitch which flapped like the real thing. The elves also sent a small menu with the cake through which Harry was able to decide the final fillings and flavouring for each slice. From chocolate to coffee and jam sponge to Battenberg. The wings eventually flew off of the iced snitch which became a solid ball of lemon jelly. Harry put the now still wings aside and thought about framing them at a later date.

The food was accompanied by Hermione's champagne and a few choice vintages from the Black family cellar. Harry eventually sat back in the dining room, the party going on around him. Hermione and Ginny eventually sidled up to him. "Come on Harry, join the party..." Ginny whined.

"In a minute Ginny, I'll just finish this," Harry replied gesturing to the slice of cake sat on the silver plate he was eating from. Ginny then drifted off to talk to Neville. Hermione was about to say something but the doorbell rang and she followed Harry outside to see who it was.

When Harry opened the door he saw two large feet, with a large packing case marked _"Fragile, this way up" _topped off by a mess of hair. The box was being gripped by two sturdy hands. From behind the box came a voice; "Happy Birthday arry! Wow, how times 'ave changed, I remember when we met all 'em years ago, I had to pull the door off its hinges then an' all. Anyhow, 'ave you got a spare room? I want yeh to see this first before anyone else."

Harry laughed heartily. "I remember how you gave Dudley a pig's tail with that umbrella of yours."

"Well best not ter' mention that to anyone at Hogwarts. Anyway, have you got an empty room." Hagrid's beetle black eyes appeared over the top of the towering box. "This box is a little heavy."

"Of course, upstairs, second on the left. It's the tapestry room. Hermione, help me guide him." Thankfully the rest of the party had remained oblivious to Harry's arrival and were still in the drawing room, otherwise they may have got in the way of the delicate operation to move the box upstairs into the tapestry room. Harry had restored it slightly, reinstating Sirius, Andromeda on the family tree whilst taking great pleasure in blasting the images of known Death Eaters from the walls including Bellatrix Lestrange, whose gold he had just inherited. He kept the names though, as a reminder. Those who didn't learn history were prone to repeating it.

Once they got the box into the room, Harry saw that it was about the size of a kitchen table. Hagrid placed it in the middle of the room and grunted slightly. Harry and Hermione were both thinking the same thing: why didn't we levitate it upstairs and save Hagrid the trouble? "I'd better go Harry, leave you to your surprise, I'm sure you'll share later."

"Nonsense Hermione, you've got every right to see this too with him now," Hagrid replied, "open it Harry," he urged.

Harry looked at the box with a mixed look of curiosity and slight apprehension. Knowing Hagrid, there could be anything with the packing case, from a Blast-Ended Skrewt to a dragon's egg to a deluxe owl cage. He also was wondering how to get rid of the packing case. After a few seconds of thought he pulled out his wand. "_Diffindo!_" and as the case fell away, Harry and Hermione's jaws dropped.

"Happy Birthday Harry! From all at Hogwarts!" beamed Hagrid.

"Oh my God! Hagrid, how?" Hermione exclaimed at the sight before her.

"Magic," Hagrid replied simply, "jus' magic. The teachers helped o' course, I just provided an idea and transportation. So it's a gift from Hogwarts really."

Harry just stood there, shocked by what he could see in front of him. A giant model of Hogwarts Castle stood in the room slowly unpacking itself until the towers reached their full height – some seven or eight feet from the ground. It was shrouded a huge glass dome. The model was a precision piece, down from the giant pendulum swinging from a real clock in the entrance hall to the miniature roof tiles on Gryffindor Tower and the cabbages in the school greenhouses. Harry looked in wonder at the miniature version of his school, from the fringes of the Forbidden Forest near Hagrid's hut to the edge of the Black Lake the level of detail was amazing. The Womping Willow moved every so often and there were waves on the surface of the Black Lake while the miniature wind blew through the trees in the Forest.

"Hermione, turn off the lights, that's where the real Magic begins I think." Hagrid wasn't really surprised by Harry's shocked expression.

"_Nox_." Hermione extinguished the lights with her wand. As she did so, the castle began to light up. Harry could see the torches outside the main entrance ignite and flecks of light appeared through the windows in the Great Hall. The castle looked warm and inviting with torchlight at every window, glowing out into the darkness. It looked just like the first time Harry had seen the castle from the boat taking him to the Sorting Ceremony nearly a decade ago. 'Magical' was the only word that could describe it. Suddenly he felt as if he was eleven again and coming to Hogwarts for the first time.

"So Harry, what do you think?" Hagrid asked, not expecting him to silent for so long.

"Hagrid, it's beautiful! How did you manage it?" Harry managed to say before once again fixing his eyes on the huge glowing model in awe.

"A little help from the Professors and Dumbledore o' course, from his portrait."

Harry just stared on for several minutes. His eyes looking for all of his favourite places – his dormitory window, the tree next to the lake he would sit under in the summer, the fountains that were always frozen solid in winter and any trace of the Weasley's wild Ford Anglia in the forest.

"Now," the Keeper of the Key's and Grounds at Hogwarts passed a small booklet marked 'Instructions' to Harry. "Here's a little guide to how to shrink and move it as well as look inside."

"Is it as good inside as it looks outside?" Harry asked.

"Yeh, or so I was told," replied Hagrid. Anyway, I'd best look in downstairs at the party."

The book of instructions gave him the different commands needed to enlarge, shrink and further investigate the model of Hogwarts. He could lift the roofs off of the towers and move floors and corridors out of the way so as to have a better view inside the castle. Again, the level of detail was incredible, every statue, every suit of armour and a miniature version of every portrait was placed in the castle just like the original. Even the staircases shifted randomly and the ceiling of the Great Hall mirrored the night sky. The only thing missing were students, teachers and creatures.

Harry's wondrous explorations were curtailed by Hermione. "Harry, we've got a party to be getting back to, you can look at this and show everyone else later. We've been up here for nearly half an hour, people will be wondering what we are up to."

"Yeah, right…" but Harry was still distant, examining the intricate scale model.

"Harry! Come on, let's get back downstairs, people are waiting."

"Yeah, coming…"

* * *

The party was still in full swing when Harry returned to the drawing room. It didn't look like he was being missed until Ron sidled up to him, glass of mulled mead in hand from the Black family cellars. "Harry, where have you been? Everyone's waiting for you to tackle that great pile of gifts in the dining room."

"Right, let's do that then I want to show all of you something." Harry announced the last part to the room in general. His mind was still on the model of Hogwarts from Hagrid – who had since left into the night. The pile of presents he had to tackle was massive. From Hermione came a large bar of Honeydukes chocolate, a small silver stag ornament she had seen in a jewellers on Bond St. and a photo album that was half full of photos of him and his friends since the end of the war.

"There's plenty of space for you to add more pictures," she said when he opened it.

From Ron he got a Wizarding Wireless, a magical gramophone – which George promptly set up to play the latest hit from _Warlock_, a newly formed band taking the magical musical scene by storm – and a bespoke wand holster. "Now you can carry it in style!" Ron had said.

Seamus had given him a case of assorted Irish whiskeys including a "fine goblin vintage from 1953" which according to Seamus was a particularly good year.

Dean had brought a huge Gryffindor lion on a banner which was enchanted so it could move on the red cloth, roaring every so often. Percy presented him with a smart looking tie pin and cufflinks set – Harry wasn't particularly surprised when Percy merely said; "for work."

Bill and Fleur had brought him an ornate crystal wizard's chess set which Harry was assured was unbreakable and if pieces were broken during a game, they would quickly repair themselves for a new match. "With a bit of practise, you should be in with a greater chance of beating Ron!" Bill had joked.

"Not in a million years came the retort. I'll play you later. But before I do, you've forgotten something," Ron gestured to the small wooden box he had given Harry earlier. "Open it."

Inside the box, Harry found what looked like a pocket watch although it was slightly bigger. On the outside Harry could see his initials engraved onto the gold casing. Inside he could see a single silver hand on a dial which looked very similar to the Weasley family clock at the burrow. It had various sections including "Home" – to which the hand was pointing, "Work", "School", "Travelling", "Abroad" and "Mortal Peril." "What use is just one hand?" asked Harry, "if it only shows me one person, then what is the point of it?" he was a little confused.

"Ah, but that's the beauty of it you see," beamed Ron. "Say my name to it."

"OK. Ron," and the hand moved to a section on the dial marked "Party", the name on the dial had changed to Ronald Weasley.

"Let's try someone else. Ron suggested. How about 'Professor McGonagall or Delores Umbridge?"

When McGonagall was mentioned, the words on the hand changed to 'Professor Minerva McGonagall' and the hand swung around and landed on the section marked "School". When Umbridge was mentioned, the hand swung to "Prison" and the evil woman's name appeared engraved onto the hand. Harry said "Hermione" and the hand once again moved back to the "Party" section.

"It will work with almost anyone in the magical world and tell you vaguely where they are." Ron continued, "Consider it a gift, from all of us."

* * *

"Are we done down here? Because I have something amazing to show you all." Harry announced after opening the final present – a 'Grow your own magical herbs and fungi kit' from Neville.

"Show us what?" asked Luna. Hermione just smiled and knew that they would all be amazed

"Well, if we go upstairs, first door on the left. Hermione can lead the way. Hagrid brought it in."

The reactions of all present were as Hermione predicted, followed by lots of questions – How? Who from? Where can I get one? And when Harry dimmed the room lights he could see the wonder on his friends faces, in fact he was still in awe himself at the sight of over a hundred thousand miniature torches illuminating the castle and several hundred fire places alight giving the model the same sense of warmth as found in the castle that Harry called home for six years. Although Harry decided not to reveal to the room the fact that the castle also had a fully functioning interior or they would have been staring at it until the small hours of the morning as the roofs were removed and the miniature rooms explored.

"Hagrid said that it was a present from all at Hogwarts," he told Ron quietly.

"More like the present of a miniature Hogwarts," remarked Ron, the envy was clear in his voice.

* * *

There were indeed up until the small hours of the morning. Bill and Fleur were the first to leave, followed by Percy who said he had an early start the next morning. The rest of the guests also started to drift out until only Hermione and Ron remained. They had graciously declined Harry's offer of a room although happily volunteered to help Harry through his mountain of fan mail the next morning.

Ron had just disapparated back to the Burrow and Hermione was also about to depart before she remembered something. "Harry, what was that earlier about getting more house elves?"

"Oh that. Well you'd better read this," he replied and took the letter from Gringotts out of his jacket pocket and gave it to Hermione to read.

Hermione's jaw kept dropped a little after she read each paragraph. Some of the numbers involved were staggering well into the millions of galleons and possibly into the hundreds of millions of pounds in assets. Hermione was astounded.

"This makes you possibly the richest wizard in Britain. You know that don't you."

"I guess. One of the richest individuals certainly. But with the properties, one would assume come house elves. I'm going to the Bank on Tuesday so I can sort it out with the goblins."

"Have you told Ron about this yet?"

"No. I'd rather not. You know how dicey he can get still get over money and I don't want my friendship to suddenly breakdown with him over a large inheritance."

"I don't think so. The Weasleys have become substantially wealthier since the end of the war but I saw him when you showed him the model of Hogwarts, he was green with envy. I think you should tell him before you go to the bank but tell him in private."

"That sounds like a good idea."

"So you've got this inheritance, not to mention the titles, what are you going to do with it?"

"I know for certain that I'll be disposing of the Lestrange money as soon as possible. Give the lot to St Mungo's, Hogwarts and some muggle charities. But other than that, I don't know. I don't even know the full extent of the thing at the moment."

"I think that that's the right thing to do with that part of the fortune. If I were you though, I'd get a lawyer or someone who knows the law to come with you because with inheritances of this kind there is always mountains of additional paperwork – debts and contracts mostly."

"Well if you are volunteering, the appointment is for Tuesday morning. I'll meet you in Diagon Alley!"

"I'll help, as long as you tell Ron all about this before then."

"Deal."

"Now I really must be going, I'll see you tomorrow to deal with your mountain of post!"

"Goodnight Hermione."

"'night!" he heard her call from her little red car.

* * *

_A/N: Please review, follow and favourite. Let me know what you think. Chapter 2 in the works. (I would love a model Hogwarts!)_

___(EDITED: 30-09-14)_


	2. Chapter 2 - Death by Paperwork

**Inheritance; Chapter 2 – Death by Paperwork**

_A/N: I'm astounded by the response to this story. I thought that my small tale would be passed by and left in the stream of Harry Potter fanfiction so I'm inspired by the fact that (at the time of writing) some 23 of you are following my humble work and 10 of you have followed it, not to mention the few of you who have added me to author alert or favourite lists._

_I have had two reviews, both from guests. I cannot PM them so I'll answer them here:_

_One said that my "Harry Potter is the equivalent to Bruce Wayne in the Wizarding World" and told me to "for Merlin's sake read Pottermore thoroughly." I have of course corrected the numerous spelling and grammar errors in these quotes but his/her meaning seems clear. He/She doesn't like my portrayal, which is fine and I welcome the criticism. However this is fiction, fan fiction so with all due respect, these characters can be portrayed in anyway. I have already warned you that this will most likely go against canon with none of the canon pairings. Surely, any experienced reader should know this so I left asking the question "are you new here or just a seriously die-hard fan?" Or even: "are you serious or just trolling?" Thoughts in the comments below are welcome._

_The second guest asked whether I'd be bashing Ron to get Hermione with Harry, and the answer is no. I just don't like bashing good characters like Ron and Dumbledore. In my opinion, some of the bashing of these two characters mentioned has been quite extreme so I humbly ask people to give these two a break!_

_Now before this 'short' author's note becomes a story in its own right. Let us continue on the pavement outside Number Twelve…_

* * *

The description of a 'mountain' of post was fairly accurate. The 'mountain' had been delivered to Grimmauld Place in two dozen large wheel barrows by a team of Ministry mailwizards. They had left the barrows concealed on the pavement and Kreacher then performed the final task, assisted by Harry, Ron and Hermione of shifting the lot indoors. Once that had been completed, a Ministry owl appeared from the British Magical Post Office's 'OwlRoost' Service;

_Harry James Potter_

_12 Grimmauld Place_

_London_

_W3_

_Dear Mr Potter,_

_As you requested, we have delivered the letters and parcels that we held for you to your home address. This totals some 2,405 parcels and 17,713 letters. We have removed 5 dangerous parcels and 32 dangerous letters and have safely destroyed them. These pieces of mail were either cursed or booby trapped and have been destroyed for your own safety and the senders investigated as we speak._

_As these letters and parcels appeared on your 21__st__ birthday we expect that you will have received various contracts of sorts within this mail. This includes but not limited to; marriage contracts, business proposals, loan contracts and use of image contracts. Please be aware that some of these contracts may be charmed to activate upon reading or opening the letter concerned. Please be on your guard. Do not sign anything without a lawyer present. The letters concerned have not been removed from the mail as they are not life threatening._

_We hope you have had a wonderful birthday and we thank you for using our services. We hope to do business with you again soon._

_Rowland Mulready_

_Director_

_British Magical Post Office_

"Right. It says here that some of these letters are charmed in various ways to make the reader automatically accept contracts of some sort. I think we should deal with them first." Harry began.

"_Automagicum Revelia," _Hermione incanted and the letters and parcels concerned began to glow. "That should be all of them. If we gather them up, we can just deal with them first."

"Agreed." Ron remarked. "I wouldn't want to get into some legal mess just because I opened a letter. Better you than me mate."

Harry smiled as Hermione summoned the offending post. She then removed the charms with "_Destructo Automagica". _A few in the pile kept glowing and Hermione tried various other spells to remove the enchantments but to no avail. Harry finally asked her to destroy them and with a swish and flick, Hermione levitated the troublesome pieces into the fireplace and ignited them.

Ron then split the pile of mail that had been enchanted into three separate piles. "Seeing as we are all in this together." he remarked.

"OK, let's open the parcels first. If there are contracts, read them and then put them in one of the following boxes." Hermione indicated three boxes that she had conjured up. They were labelled 'Business', 'Marriage' and 'Other'. "Keep all of the paper work for each contract together and then we can tackle the task of answering them at a later date." Hermione continued in a bossy voice. But Harry knew that she was the best administrator he knew, perhaps with the exception of Percy Weasley who seemed to live off paperwork.

The parcels contained various product samples ranging from the latest Nimbus racing broom prototype to enchanted _Gordonstoun's Magical Gobstones _to the latest _Kwikspell Course (Revised Curriculum). _Companies were asking him to endorse everything from a line of magical ties (_Enchantied – Magical Ties for the Masses_) to owl treats (_Otus' Owl Feed and Care_). The products were mostly harmless and in some cases useful and so Harry set aside the contracts he was interested in. Some (to Ron's delight) were even food related. Two American Magical Fast Food (_Mannerheim's Magical Food_ and _Pepperbowl Inc._) chains had approached Harry for endorsements as well as sending product samples in the form of menus from which Harry could request everything from the humble beef burger to Solaniun Fries (magical potato fries).

After they vanished the piles of unwanted packaging and disposed of the unwanted 'gifts' (such as a book endorsement deals for _"A Study of 143 Types of Dragon Dung – Identify Your Dragon" _which they owled to Hagrid and _"The Chemistry of Love – How To Brew Your Own Love Potions" _ which was transfigured into a roll of toilet paper by Hermione with the comment "the only thing it's good for"), Harry, Ron and Hermione moved on to the previously enchanted letters.

Again, some of these letters were business related. There were several wizarding stockbroking and financial management firms offering their services – Harry declined their offers, unwilling to lose control of his new fortune less than thirty-six hours after he learned of its existence. Another asked for funds for an expedition into Central Africa to contact some of the indigenous magical tribes known to be living there – Hermione was tempted to send them muggle airline tickets. There were also more than a dozen individual offers to ghost-write his autobiography.

However, many of these enchanted letters were marriage contracts. There were nearly 40 of these. Most included pictures, they ranged from the equivalent of a passport photo or holiday snaps to some which could only be described as pornographic displaying their subjects 'assets' to the fullest extent. The subjects ranged from witches from his time at Hogwarts including Alicia Spinnet from his Quidditch team (who was thankfully modestly attired) to the equivalent of American magical porn stars ten years his senior and teenagers from Europe. Harry of course intended to decline all of them.

Once they had finished reading the contracts, the three broke for lunch provided by a combination of a reverential Kreacher and the magical menus from _Mannerheim's_. It was at lunch that Harry decided to reveal the existence of his vast inheritance to Ron. Like Hermione, when he read the letter his jaw dropped. "Bloody hell!" he exclaimed, "You've hit the jackpot big time mate! All that money…" he whistled, "any idea what you'll spend it on?"

Harry and Hermione both thought that Ron had taken the news better than expected. "Other than liquidating the Lestrange fortune, no. That money is going to various charities both muggle and magical."

"And then there's the properties. Apparently Black Manor is one of the largest houses in the country; according to Mum."

"Well I'm claiming all of it tomorrow at Gringotts. Hermione's coming to help me with the goblins, you can join us if you like."

"No thank you. I reckon the goblins are still tetchy from when we almost demolished their bank. I haven't set foot in Gringotts but you have to promise to show me some of the properties. I'm not going to risk it."

Ron looked adamant. "Well if we set aside next weekend we can explore some these great houses together." Hermione suggested.

"That's a good idea but I think I will at least have been to see some of the more major ones," said Harry.

"Well as long as I get to visit, I'm happy. Just make sure you accept these restaurant contracts, this burger is just delicious!" Ron replied. Hermione and Harry just rolled their eyes.

After lunch, Hermione went back out to her Rover Metro and returned with a small wooden crate. Out of it she extracted what looked slightly like a muggle record player upon which Harry could see the words "_AutoQuill – We solve your signature problems"_. "This is an AutoQuill, I borrowed it from work. Essentially it works like a muggle autopen, Harry can sign something once and the AutoQuill can duplicate the signature. I borrowed it from work. I thought that we could duplicate photos of Harry as well as a thank you note and we can have the AutoQuill sign them and then they can be owled to all the people who sent gifts or cards. No one would be any the wiser. It would be a shame for all these good people if they got nothing in return for taking the time and effort to write to him and to get nothing in return."

"Uhhh…right OK, but only a few photos." Harry replied.

"Nothing too personal just a portrait or something. It also saves us having to open every card, we can just send the photos to the return addresses on the backs of the envelopes, and most of the cards have one." Hermione said happily.

"Well hopefully, this will be easier than signing Lockhart's fan mail." Harry remarked, thinking back to his second year under that over-exaggerating, fraudulent narcissist. Harry hated to answer fan mail. "I will have to buy one of these machines, it'll make the process much easier."

"For now, I think about a thousand photos should do the trick." Hermione said. The photo she had chosen was of a smiling Harry in the drawing room of Grimmauld Place on his twentieth birthday, raising a glass of lemonade to the camera. With a simple (well simple for Hermione) incantation of "_Duplicous Millia_" a nine inch high stack of identical photographs appeared where only one had been before. Hermione arranged the stack so it automatically fed into the AutoQuill. "Now, if you sign the first photo, the AutoQuill can duplicate it onto the rest." Harry signed, and the quill did the rest.

Harry and Ron then summoned the all the envelopes containing birthday cards and birthday wishes, anything relating to birthdays from the mountain of mail before them. Harry then put the considerable pile of cards to one side before summoning all the remaining parcels which he had Kreacher take downstairs into one of the cellars. He would deal with them at a later date.

This left Harry, Ron and Hermione with a pile of everything else which totalled a couple of thousand letters. Harry summoned all of the remaining marriage contracts to his lap, this was about half the pile. Hermione accio-ed anything else related to business and money which left Ron with a considerable pile of miscellaneous mail.

* * *

In fact after about an hour, Ron thought that he had the best job of the three of them and was rolling around on the floor laughing after reading a letter from a middle-aged witch in Surrey who thought of herself as something of a seer and who had predicted that Harry would be the first wizard to walk on Jupiter and the first person to meet the hoberquerlings who lived there face to face. This woman insisted that she had already contacted them telepathically and that they were eagerly awaiting his arrival. Ron was howling with laughter. There was so much nonsense contained in these miscellaneous letters that Ron implored harry to archive them and one day produce a book of these fantasies for the wizarding world to enjoy. After reading a few of them, Harry heartily agreed.

Hermione on the other hand found herself inundated with business proposals, the more enterprising of which she put aside for further consideration whilst quietly disposing of the more outlandish ideas. Quite a bit of it was no more useful than muggle junk-mail. There were some gems that she thought Harry might like including a Quidditch simulation company and a plan to fund the teaching of magic to muggleborns in more deprived areas of the world. Along the same lines as this were many charities and individuals asking for money. Hermione sorted these letters into two separate piles, one for organisations and one for individuals. The charities could be considered at a later date using the Lestrange fortune whilst Hermione wanted to further investigate the pleas for help that came in the form of birthday messages for Harry.

Harry was then left with the complicated problem of marriage contracts. He knew that he had to at least read each and everyone but he only had to decline contracts in writing from those he knew. Thankfully, that only came to a couple of dozen contracts, almost all from British pureblood families who wanted to marry off their daughters. Most of the contracts came from abroad. Harry focused on the ones he knew first. They included; the Patil twins (one for each twin and one for both Padma and Parvati – polygamy in the wizarding world was rare but not illegal), Pansy Parkinson, Romilda Vane (definitely not! Harry thought), Tracy Davies (a Slytherin who had been in his year), Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bulstrode, Luna Lovegood (surprisingly), Hannah Abbot, Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell and even Susan Bones. There were also contracts from the families of some witches who worked in the Auror Office at Ministry. Thankfully most of the pictures that came with the contracts depicted their subjects demurely. The only exceptions being Millicent Bulstrode in a swimsuit who looked like a troll in muggle clothing and Romilda Vane in a skimpy negligee smiling seductively at the camera.

Some of the foreign contracts were quite extreme. There was one Middle-Eastern wizard who offered the hands of all 17 of his daughters in simultaneous marriage and included a large bundle of photographs – many of which Harry could only compare to one of the magazines he had found when cleaning in Dudley's bedroom years ago. Another magical African chief offered him the hand of every woman in his quite substantial village in return for a thousand cattle a year and a British house-elf. There seemed to be quite a few contracts from America with witches describing how they "loved the British accent" and wanted to marry him for it.

Curiously, within the foreign contracts he found one from the Delacours, offering Fleur's sister, Gabrielle to Harry. Harry put the contract on the pile of contracts for people he knew. There were over three dozen contracts from Eastern Europe including someone who said that they were distantly related to Victor Krum. Harry would have to get Hermione to ask Victor to confirm it, Harry knew that they still kept in touch. There were contracts from almost every country in the world from Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe. Even an Italian nun at the Vatican had offered herself.

Harry of course was in no mood to accept any of them. So he started to draft a general rejection letter, although he only had the duty to reject in writing the contracts of those he knew:

_Dear Sir/Madam_

_It is my duty to inform you that I officially decline any notion of a marriage between myself and _ at this time. I am currently not in the position to look for a wife/wives. I return the contract in full to you with this letter. I will keep a duplicate copy for my records._

_Yours faithfully,_

_Harry James Potter_

Harry then duplicated the entire stack of contracts and put one stack aside for the archives and concentrated on reading the remaining contracts. As he read through the remaining pile, Hermione had already put another 3 stacks of a thousand photos through the autopen, ready to be sent along with the thank-you note to the senders of cards and gifts. But there wasn't time to do that today and the whole process would take more than a week with everything else going on. Day had turned into night and Kreacher had prepared dinner for them.

* * *

As it turned out, since the Battle of Hogwarts, Kreacher's cooking skills were comparable to (if not exceeded) the skill of the Hogwarts house elves. So Harry, Ron and Hermione sat down at the kitchen table whilst Kreacher in a crisp white apron over an equally white tea-towel which he wore 'toga-style', served them an excellent three course meal. This included a delicious pudding of ice-cream, strawberries and meringue in a concoction called Eton Mess – it was something that Kreacher had found in a muggle recipe book Hermione had bought him last Christmas.

All three complemented the bull-frog voiced house elf who looked very pleased as his creation was eagerly devoured by his three charges. Even Hermione couldn't complain. Despite the fact that this particular pudding had a high sugar content – her parents were dentists. Besides, after the tedious task of sorting through Harry's birthday mail, she thought she could treat herself.

The conversation soon turned to tomorrow at Gringotts with Harry asking Ron to come with him and Hermione once again. Ron again flatly refused.

"Not for even a billion galleons, not yet anyway. Never cross the goblins Harry, they can be more vicious than the Death Eaters ever were."

Hermione mentioned some of the various charities asking for Harry's support and put forward the idea that some of the Lestrange fortune could go towards them. Harry readily agreed, he didn't want anything to do with that particular fortune.

Ron then asked about the marriage contracts.

"Anyone we know?"

"Oh plenty; the Patils, Hannah Abbot, Luna, Angelina Johnson even Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bulstrode and Romilda Vane tried their luck."

"Uhhh…no thankyou!" Ron exclaimed, "I bet Bulstrode looks something like a toad in a swimsuit – I saw you looking at the pictures."

"More like a troll!" Harry chuckled. Hermione glared at the both of them.

"That's a bit of a harsh description. I may not like her but I think comparing her to a troll is a bit harsh," she said.

"No, I'd say the description is fairly accurate." Harry replied as he extracted the photo of Bulstrode in her bikini leering at the camera. Hermione winced when she looked at the image.

"In fact I'd agree with you," she handed the photo to Ron.

"Ouch, I think I'm scarred for life!" and then Ron pretended to faint in a mock horror and his hand went to his forehead in a performance worthy of the late Fred and perfectly healthy George. "Yeah, definitely troll."

"Ron, wasn't Romilda Vane the one who tried to poison Harry with a love potion but ended up getting you instead?" Hermione asked.

"Yep." Harry and Ron replied simultaneously and Harry dug around in the pile for Romilda's contract. He showed the photo to Hermione.

"That's practically soft porn! Has she got no decency?" Hermione said in disgust showing the photo to Ron. The red-head's eyes went wide.

"No, she really hasn't. But that isn't the worst of the photos, some of it would definitely be called pornography."

"Well for some people, of 'loose virtue', won't stop at anything I suppose," Hermione remarked dryly. "Honestly, if they go to all this trouble it's a wonder that any of them have a brain at all, just boys on the mind."

"Yeah but you've got to admit, Harry must be the most eligible bachelor in Britain around about now," Ron said. "Better you than me. I wouldn't know what to with it all."

"With what?" asked Hermione.

"You know, the fame, the publicity, the money. A little bit is alright but I wouldn't want to end up like Lockhart or Malfoy when he had a fortune. At least Harry has some experience with it all." Ron replied.

"I know what you mean, I'm not sure that I really want some of it either. It's like having nearly every witch my age in Britain wanting to throw themselves at me just because I'm Harry Potter. I'm sorry but if I choose to have a relationship, it's going to be on my terms, not on the terms of some stupid contract."

"Well said Harry. And I agree," said Hermione. "I would hate for the both of you to end up like Lockhart or Malfoy. To think that at one point I actually admired Lockhart…" Hermione shuddered.

"Just as long as you endorse that American restaurant and show me some of those houses, I'll be content with that. That and eating a nice chicken with fries." Ron said. Harry and Hermione just smiled.

* * *

The three of them eventually finished sorting the mail three or four hours after dinner. The parcels had been left in Kreacher's care in the cellars. Hermione had finally packed the AutoQuill away after it had processed over 10,000 photographs, thank you notes and the generic contract rejection letters. Harry had decided that he would immediately order one of his own in the morning, he also knew that he was going to have to get hold of a lot of owls in order to deliver his thank you messages and to return the contracts. Duplicates of the contracts and photographs had for now been placed in the library in Grimmauld Place. Harry could deal with them later.

They were sat in the drawing room of Number Twelve, exhausted. By the end of it, Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to see an envelope again. Harry was nursing a glass of magical champagne that Hermione had bought him yesterday. Ron was pouring a third glass, his third in half an hour. Harry was just glad that the alcohol had been mixed with a sobering potion – they could drink as much as they liked and still stay sober.

By the time the carriage clock chimed eleven, Hermione had departed, saying that she wanted a good rest before helping Harry deal with the mountain of paperwork she predicted would arise out of his inheritance. Ron was about to disapparate as well but Harry stopped him just before he left.

"Hey, Ron listen."

"I'm all ears."

"I don't want my inheritance to come between us. So I've had an idea-"

"Before you say anything," Ron held up his hand to stop Harry speaking. "We've been through worse together and we've changed and I think that this inheritance won't really change that much about us, we've known each other too long and far too well. Just as long as you endorse that American restaurant and show me around your houses!" Ron grinned.

"Of course, I'll tell them personally that Ron Weasley is already in love with them." Harry smirked. "But the fact of the matter is, as you saw in that letter, I inherit two seats on the Wizengamot for Potter and for Black. I can only use one at any one time so I'd like you to become my proxy on the Black seat."

"You want me to represent you on the Wizengamot?" Ron asked in disbelief.

"Yes."

"But Harry, I don't know anything about politics, hell the Weasleys lost their seat nearly a century ago. Great Aunt Muriel never lets us forget it. Neither did the Malfoys until Lucius went to Azkaban."

"Well then we'll learn together. I've got no clue, the only time I've ever seen the Wizengamot in session was when I was tried by them after Umbridge set the dementors on me in fifth year. "

"Why me? Why not Hermione? She knows more about magical politics than any of us."

"I think she'll be too busy to help us. I don't want this to get in the way of her career. She's meant to be drafting new laws, not passing them. Although in any case, I can appoint or change proxies at any time. But I think we can learn from the experience."

"You sound like Hermione." Ron groaned.

"Here's the deal, you sit as my proxy for the Black seat and I'll endorse those restaurant chains and make sure they provide you with one of those magical menus free of charge."

"Done."

"Good, I hoped you'd agree. I need somebody I know and trust in that position. Besides, I don't really know anyone in that chamber. So it works out for the both of us."

"I suppose so. But I really must be going or Mum will skin me alive. Even though I'm well over age, she still thinks I should be getting home at a decent time. I had to disillusion myself between the front gate of The Burrow and my bedroom to avoid her last night. Then I had to pretend that I returned with Ginny earlier."

Harry laughed. "Good luck getting home."

"But in all seriousness Harry, don't let it get to your head. Don't become some sickly combination of Malfoy and Lockhart."

"No of course not."

"Now, I'm off. Goodnight!"

"See you later Ron, I'll be in touch to give you the tour of my inheritance."

"Bye!" and the youngest Weasley Son disapparated with a loud pop.

* * *

_A/N: Now I hope you enjoyed this latest instalment. Just one thing I would like to ask of my readers – would you prefer longer (say 4k+ words) chapters posted say every fortnight or shorter chapters posted every week (1-2k words)? Answers welcome below in that nice box marked "Type your review for this chapter here…" Any and all feedback is welcome. As always, thank you for reading and please review, follow and favourite. Until we meet again. In Chapter 3 we go to the marble halls of Gringotts!_

___(EDITED: 30-09-14)_


	3. Chapter 3 - The Potter Inheritance

**Inheritance; Chapter Three – The Potter Inheritance**

_A/N: Hello. Welcome to Chapter 3 – The Potter Inheritance or if you'd like it more simply; 'Contracts, Debts and Declarations.'_

_Thank you for the epic response to the story so far (at the time of writing this stands at 1,925 views, 63 followers, 30 favourites and ten reviews as well as being posted to two communities), I'm simply astounded! Thank you! _

_Although one thing I have noticed when writing Harry Potter fan fiction – readers tend to follow and favourite instead of reviewing compared to other genres such as the West Wing (comment below if you find the reference to this piece of genius TV in the following chapter) or Spooks (MI5) – both of which I have written for. Can I take this time to remind you that I'm open to all feedback (as long as it is not abusive but then I'm sure you are all nice people) be it a line, a plot suggestion or a detailed commentary._

_Now for one important notice: I have moved the traditional canon timeline forward by approximately 7 years. So Harry is born on July 31__st__ 1987 rather than July 31__st__ 1981 and so on and so forth. So this story starts in 2008. Every other date will change accordingly. I have done this because I think it makes the story more relatable to the present day – I'd find the 2000s easier to write about than the late 1990s. It also means I can have more cultural references etc. Let me know what you think about this change…_

_I will at some point go back through Chapters 1 and 2 to look for errors and correct them – I believe at least Chapter 1 I called Ancient and Most Noble Houses, Most Ancient and Noble Houses. But I check for errors to the best of my ability._

_So as we leave this dreadfully long author's note behind, let us turn our attention to the marble halls, sparkling chandeliers and inscriptions above the doors to Gringotts Bank (London Branch) in Diagon Alley…_

* * *

_Enter, stranger, but take heed__  
__Of what awaits the sin of greed__  
__For those who take, but do not earn,__  
__Must pay most dearly in their turn.__  
__So if you seek beneath our floors__  
__A treasure that was never yours,__  
__Thief, you have been warned, beware__  
__Of finding more than treasure there._

Harry and Hermione glanced up at the inscription above the silver doors of the entrance hall of Gringotts as they came through the main bronze doors flanked by two goblins in scarlet and gold uniforms. When they appeared on the marble colonnaded trading floor of Gringotts, Harry's eyes went up to the massive crystal chandeliers that hung elegantly from the ceiling. His glance then went up into the giant glass dome – since repaired after his, Ron and Hermione's escapades with a dragon four years ago. He gulped slightly, he hadn't really set foot in Gringotts since the Battle and goblins were renowned for their ability to hold centuries-old grudges against their wizard clientele.

Hermione took charge. In contrast, she wasn't the least bit afraid of the four foot high financial managers of the magical world. She immediately went up to one of the goblin tellers and announced herself and Harry.

"I'm Hermione Granger and this is Harry Potter, we're here to claim his inheritance. We have an appointment with Wistnok Goblin, in charge of Inheritance and Estate."

"One moment please," asked the goblin before beckoning another over. "Troswek, please show Mr Potter and Miss Granger into Department Head Wistnok's office, then inform Head Goblin Pronick that our esteemed guests have arrived and bring him to them," Troswek moved towards a set of green baize double doors. "Mr Potter, Miss Granger, we at Gringotts have been expecting you. Troswek here will take you to Wistnok."

Harry and Hermione followed the younger goblin through the double doors into a long wood panelled, green and gold carpeted corridor. "Well that was unexpected, I didn't expect the Head Goblin to get involved. I thought we were just meeting with Wistnok." Harry remarked.

"I'm not, it was Pronick who sent you the letter in the first place," Hermione replied.

"Indeed Mr Potter, you are one of the bank's most esteemed customers. It is but an honour to serve you and your companion," added Trosnek.

"But-, "Harry began but was cut off. Trosnek had led them into a small conference room. Here the green and gold carpet continued. In the centre of the room stood a large oval mahogany table surrounded by half a dozen matching green leather chairs with gleaming silver studs.

"Wait here please, make yourself comfortable while I fetch Wistnok and Head Goblin Pronick," said their goblin guide who then left the room.

"So now we wait," Harry said to nobody in particular.

"Best make yourself comfortable Harry, this could take all day," warned Hermione who had already chosen her seat at the table, Harry sat down next to her. He was about to ask Hermione a question but the door opened once again as Trosnek showed in the too senior goblins. Both were dressed in the equivalent of a muggle business suit, complete with shirt and tie. One wore a monocle in his left eye.

"Thank you, Trosnek, that will be all," said the goblin with the monocle as he dismissed the young goblin. "You must be Mr Potter and Miss Granger I presume," goblin continued, turning to look at the two of them.

"Yes sir," replied Harry.

"I am Pogrook Pronick, Head Goblin at Gringotts in London and this," the monocle wearing goblin gestured, "is Wistnok, Goblin-in-Charge of our Inheritance and Estate Department."

Wistnok merely nodded in greeting. "Now before we begin, I must ask both of you to submit to a test of identity. This is essential for security reasons. Wistnok, if you could."

Wistnok placed two pieces of parchment on the table along with two thick files marked "Potter" and "Black". The goblin placed one piece of parchment opposite Hermione and one in front of Harry and put the files at the end of the table. "Now, if the two of you could please show me the tip of your right index finger." Both showed the goblin their index fingers. "I'm just going to prick both of your fingers so it draws blood and then when I say, I want you to place your finger on the centre of your piece of parchment."

Wistnok then proceeded to take an ornate silver needle with a sapphire for an eye and gently stabbed each index finger offered to him. "This test will disregard all forms of disguise _including_ polyjuice potion which I believed you used when last you were here, if you are who you say you are." Wistnok waited for a significant droplet of blood had appeared on each finger. "Now if you could place your finger on the centre of the parchment." Harry and Hermione held their fingers in place for nearly thirty seconds. "Thank-you, the wound has now healed and your true identities will be revealed in a moment."

"Head Goblin Pronick, on behalf of Ronald Bilius Weasley, Harry and I apologise for our actions the last time we visited this esteemed institution." Hermione said, anxious to avoid any confrontation.

"No matter, as it turns out, the Bank reaped and is still reaping the profits from the defeat of Mr Riddle. The foreign markets are prepared to trade with us once again and we were able to seize some of the fortunes of his followers. As it happens, the damage to the bank was superficial and the loss of an elderly dragon who was guarding the vault of one of the darkest families in Britain is not a great one. In fact you have left us in a better position since before the Second War. You have repaid us, albeit indirectly, many times over and for that, we are indebted to Mr Potter and his friends, you among them Miss Granger. The pleasure in looking after your accounts is all ours Mr Potter," replied the head of the Bank.

As Pronick had been talking, the two pieces of parchment had developed almost like photographic film. Upon Harry's parchment Harry could see the following:

* * *

_Harry James Potter_

_Born: 31__st__ July 1987 to James & Lily Potter (nee Evans) (deceased, 31__st__ October 1988)_

_Head of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter (through succession),_

_Head of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black (through election),_

_Heir to the title and styles of Lord Potter of Magical Britain_

_Heir to the titles and styles of Earl of Windermere and Viscount Coniston of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,_

_Heir to the title and styles of Lord Black of Magical Britain,_

_Heir to the Lestrange Family fortune (through deference),_

_Entitled to hold 2 seats on the British Wizengamot upon acceptance of the titles,_

_Entitled to sit in the House of Lords at the Parliament of Westminster if so elected,_

_Education: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (1998-2004, returned in 2005 to complete NEWTs)_

_Qualifications: 7 OWLs (1 Outstanding), 5 NEWTs (3 Outstanding)_

* * *

Hermione's parchment followed a similar pattern but with one surprise:

* * *

_Hermione Jean Granger_

_Born: 19__th__ September 1986 to Dominic and Emma Granger (nee Warwick)_

_Heiress Presumptive to the position as head of the Noble House of Granger (dormant since 1895)_

_Heiress Presumptive to the title and styles of Lady Granger of Magical Britain,_

_Entitled to hold 1 seat on the British Wizengamot upon acceptance of the title,_

_Education: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (1998-2004, returned in 2005 to complete NEWTs)_

_Brasenose College, University of Oxford (2004-7)_

_Qualifications: 10 OWLs (9 Outstanding), 7 NEWTs (7 Outstanding), BA in Politics Philosophy and Economics (1__st__ Class Honours)_

* * *

Hermione's first words were; "So I'm an heiress too?"

"It would appear so Miss Granger," replied Wistnok who was examining the parchment. "The Noble House of Granger has been dormant since 1895 with the holdings being frozen by the Bank since then. If you wait a moment, I can have somebody fetch the file for the Noble House of Granger."

"How come I'm an heiress presumptive if the family has been dormant for so long."

"In 1895, the last member of the magical branch of the Granger family died out, the branch has stayed non-magical until today. I assume you wish to claim the title Lady Granger of the Noble House of Granger today?"

"Yes of course but Harry is here first."

"Very well. Mr Potter," Wistnok turned to Harry whilst Pronick called for a goblin to fetch the Granger files, "before we begin, do you have any questions about the Inheritance Ritual?"

"Inheritance Ritual? What does it involve?" asked Harry.

"A similar procedure to the identification test you have just undertaken except I will ask you to press your bleeding finger upon the correct page in the Potter family ledger and upon the stone of the ring of Lord Potter, this process will be repeated for the Black family ledger and ring. The ring and ledger should accept you as Lord Potter and Lord Black. You will also have to sign the relevant muggle paperwork to accept your muggle titles but that is a mere formality which we can undertake at a later date. An announcement of the fact will be printed in _The Times of London_. The acceptance of your magical titles can be announced in the _Daily Prophet_ if you wish."

Wistnok took the Potter file and opened it to the correct page he also opened a small box that Harry had never seen before. Harry could see the last addition to the page in the file was his grandfather's name, bloody thumbprint and signature, dated January 1942. "How come my father's name doesn't appear here?"

"He never assumed the title Mr Potter, he never had the chance to, and when your grandfather died your parents soon went into hiding from Tom Riddle so he never performed the ritual. It is the same with your late godfather Sirius Black, he never assumed the title because his father was still alive when he was sent to Azkaban. Orion Black died a year after his eldest son's sentencing. As a convict he couldn't claim the title, neither could he claim it whilst he was on the run from the Ministry. As you know, unfortunately he died before he could be declared innocent," said the goblin.

Harry felt a little anger at the establishment because of the injustices he had just heard.

"Now, if you would please once again bear your right index finger," ordered the goblin before taking the sapphire eyed silver needle and stabbing the offered fingertip. "Place your finger on the page below the previous entry." Harry did as the goblin said and felt the tingle of magic at his finger tip it touched the page. "Now remove your finger and place it on the ruby on this," Wistnok held the small box up so he could see inside where upon the black velvet lay three rings, Wistnok carefully took the largest – a gold ring with a single circular ruby mounted up it. Wistnok offered the ruby encrusted ring to Harry who placed his finger upon the gem. As he did so, Harry could read the glowing script engraved on the inside of the ring; "_Harry James Potter, Head of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter, Lord Potter_".

"And finally, if you could sign your name Lord Potter," said Pronick handing him a black quill.

"Uhhh…you haven't given me any ink," Harry replied and then felt immediately stupid for saying such a thing because he then realised that it was a blood quill. This was then confirmed by Pronick.

Harry signed whilst feeling the sting in his hand.

They repeated the process for the Black Family. Once they had finished, Pronick was the first to congratulate him.

"On behalf of the Goblin Nation Lord Potter may I be the first to offer our congratulations upon ascension to your new role. All goblins stand behind you and we make you a friend of the goblin Nation. May your enemies be vanquished and your gold flow freely. All at Gringotts offer their services to you my lord. Firstly, may I ask how we are to address you?"

"Just Harry, Head Goblin Pronick. All my friends just call me Harry. My enemies and acquaintances can call me Lord Potter, or Lord Black."

"Very well Harry. Now would you like to look over your holdings now?"

"Let's get Hermione's ritual out of the way first and then we can look at the rest of the paperwork and Hermione can look over it with me without getting distraction."

"Of course. Miss Granger, if you would," replied Pronick. Hermione needed no further instructions, she had already seen the process done twice.

A few minutes later Hermione had completed the ritual and was also declared a friend of the Goblin Nation.

* * *

"Lady Granger." Harry smirked.

"Lord Potter, or would you prefer Lord Black or Lord Windermere or Lord Coniston? Harry 'too many titles' Potter!" Hermione shot back with a grin.

"Hermione don't," Harry shuddered, "you make me sound as arrogant as Malfoy."

"And you make me sound like someone out of an Austen novel," Hermione replied. "Now can we get back to first name terms?"

"Of course my lady." Harry earned a punch on the arm for that but he knew he deserved it and just chuckled along with everyone else in the room. The goblins looked amused at the antics of the two newest members of Magical British Nobility.

"Now if we could return to business," said Wistnok smiling broadly, "I suggest we start with the estate of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter. I've duplicate copies of the files for the four of us," he continued as he passed out identical files to all present. "Now let's begin…"

* * *

_The Estate of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter_

_The following is a list of contents of the Estate of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter, herein referred to as "the House", "the House of Potter" or more simply "the Family"._

_Gringotts Holdings – the Gringotts Holdings of the House of Potter are as follows:_

_Money:_

_- 6,287,792 galleons and 1 knut_

_- £512,247 and 49 pence in Pound Sterling_

_- $34,482 at 21 cents in US Dollars_

_Metals and Precious Stones:_

_- 7 tonnes of 24 carat gold bullion_

_- 5 tonnes of fine silver bullion_

_- 100 kilograms of goblin refined platinum_

_- 3 tonnes of other precious metals in various forms_

_- 31 kilograms of uncut diamonds_

_- 27 kilograms of uncut rubies_

_- 28 kilograms of uncut sapphires_

_- 23 kilograms of uncut emeralds_

_- 3 kilograms of various cut diamonds_

_- 4 kilograms of various cut rubies_

_- 2 kilograms of various cut emeralds_

_- 3 kilograms of various cut emeralds_

_- 147 kilograms of other assorted uncut gemstones, precious and semi-precious stones including opals, garnets, pearls and amethysts _

_- 62 kilograms of assorted cut gemstones, precious and semi-precious stones_

_Items:_

_- 98 various cases of assorted jewellery_

_- 1,941 assorted rare books_

_- 60 cases of various alcohols_

_- 12 silver dinner service sets_

_- 1 set of 496 pieces of goblin made crystal wear_

_- 2 fine china dinner service sets_

_- 81 yards of acromantula silk in 9 rolls_

_- 7 unicorn horns_

_- 14 cabinets of other various potion ingredients_

_- 11 various cauldrons_

_- 32 various trunks of unsorted items_

_- 3 empty trunks_

_- 132 pieces of various furniture_

_- 4 tapestries_

_- 16 wands_

_- 5 marble statues_

_- 1 Order of Merlin Medal (2__nd__ Class)_

_- 43 various clocks_

_- 19 pocket watches_

_- 23 other timepieces_

_- 71 pictures and picture frames_

_- 12,842 other items_

_Property in Britain:_

_- Potter Manor – the Potter Family seat in the magical world – located in the West of England, unplottable, under the Fidelius Charm and undetectable by muggles this property comes with 7 house elves for the manor and 119 on the estate. The estate consists of 73,000 acres of surrounding land including; lakes, woodland, down land as well as an ex-RAF aerodrome, RAF Summerdown._

_- The Windermere Hall Estate – includes Windermere Hall, the Potter Family seat in the muggle world – located in the Lake District, Northern England and Coniston House – a minor muggle stately home. The Hall is a well-known stately home that has been in the care of the muggle National Trust for the past 20 years and is open to the public during the summer months. It can be reclaimed whenever the heir decides to. This is accompanied by 22,000 acres of surrounding land including 3 islands on Lake Windermere _

_- The Retreat – a magical hunting lodge in the Highlands of Scotland, 23 miles from Inverness, unplottable, under the Fidelius Charm and undetectable to muggles with 2 local house elves in the home and 12 looking after the 10,000 acre estate._

_- 12-17 Diagon Alley – currently rented out to various magical businesses as are the flats above the shops. 15a Diagon Alley is a private flat at the disposal of the Family to use whenever in London and is under the Fidelius Charm._

_- Number 7, The Street, Godric's Hollow – currently in ruins and an unofficial memorial to the events of the night of October 31__st__ 1988. Can be restored at any time if the Family wish._

_- A half share of Number 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey – in partnership with Vernon and Petunia Dursley._

_- 120 acres of woodland in the New Forest._

_- 30 acres of moorland in Yorkshire. _

_Property Abroad:_

_- Lakeside – a comfortable magical house on the banks of Lake Como, Switzerland. Comes with 3 house elves, fluent in English, French, German and Italian. Under the Fidelius Charm, unplottable and undetectable to muggles._

_- Windermere – a small villa near Cannes with views of the Mediterranean. Under the Fidelius Charm, unplottable and undetectable to muggles. Staffed by the house elves of Lakeside._

_- Number 12, Manchester St. Hartsfield Landing, New Hampshire, United States of America – A large detached property in this small rural town staffed by 1 of 5 American house-elves in service to the Potters._

_- Apartment 17, 785 Park Avenue, New York City, USA – a fine twelve-room, two floor apartment, minutes away from the magical side of the city, staffed by two of the five American house-elves in service to the Potters._

_- Number 8, Sunshine Drive, Los Angeles – a Californian villa in a Los Angeles suburb, staffed by 2 of the 5 American house-elves in service to the Potters._

_- Lakeland – a 250 acre private island in the Caribbean with 6 bedroom villa, berth's for up to 4 yachts, boathouse and nearly 3 miles of private beaches. Magical wards ensure that the island never falls into the path of winter storms and hurricanes. Unplottable, undetectable to muggles and under the Fidelius Charm. Staffed by all five American house elves._

_Vehicles:_

_- 1936 Rolls Royce 25/30 Touring Limousine in black and claret – located at Potter Manor._

_- 1963 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud III Limousine in silver and black – located at Potter Manor._

_- Two enchanted 1960 Jaguar Chassis – these vehicles can transfigure into any Jaguar model designed and built between 1950 and 1969 including the E-Type, the MK II and MKXI saloon. Fitted with various enchantments to improve performance and appearance. Exempt under the Misuse of Muggle Vehicles Act passed by the Wizengamot in 1972 as the creation of these vehicles predates the act which exempted it. Located at The Retreat._

_- Enchanted 1964 Aston Martin DB5 in Silver Birch – carries defensive and performance enhancing enchantments. Located at Lakeside._

_- 1967 Ford Mustang in midnight blue and chrome – carries protection enchantments, legal under the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution of Magical America. Located at Number 8, Sunshine Drive, Los Angeles._

_- MV Cervina – A 60 foot long motor yacht flying the Magical American Flag. Enhanced with protection and navigation charms. Berthed at the harbour in Lakeland._

_- 21 brooms of various models and ages collected at Potter Manor._

_- 1 magic carpet – legal under French law. Currently located at Windermere near Cannes._

_NOTE: The above is not a complete inventory of all Potter Family Assets, it does not include the total contents of every estate or any other holdings held by any other business, bank or financial institution unknown to Gringotts._

* * *

"That's quite a lot of stuff, and that's just for the Potters." Harry gulped.

"Indeed Harry, 14 properties in this country and around the world, not to mention over six and quarter million galleons residing in the Potter vault. This alone makes you one of the wealthiest in Britain, the combination of this and the Black and Lestrange fortune makes undoubtedly the wealthiest wizard in this country and one of the wealthiest in the world," said Pronick.

"Can I suggest that we deal with each House separately?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah, that might be a good plan Hermione, the numbers here are astronomical. Who would have that I own everything from a magic carpet to a Bond car."

"Pardon me, Harry but 'Bond' car?" asked Wistnok.

"Oh, in the muggle world there's this fictional character called James Bond and he drives a silver Aston Martin like the one at Lakeside."

"I see."

"Why are so many of my properties named after things in the Lake District?" asked Harry who was bemused by the fact that so many of his properties referred to lakes.

"The Potters originated there I believe whilst they also had homes elsewhere in the country. When the Potter family was given then given the Earldom of Windermere by the Royal Family in the latter half of the seventeenth century, by King Charles II in recognition for their support of the Crown during the Civil War," explained Wistnok. "You are one of few families who are recognised as noble in both the muggle and magical world, with peerages in both places. The title of Viscount Coniston is a courtesy title for your future eldest son, at this time it is yours by default."

"Right, so now we have a rough idea of the Potter estate, are there any contracts or debts outstanding or owed to Harry?" asked Hermione, becoming very business-like.

"Any debts and contracts will be listed here…"

* * *

_The Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter_

_The following is a list of outstanding debts, loans, declarations and contracts to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter, herein referred to as "the House", "the House of Potter" or more simply "the Family"._

_Contracts (Alliance):_

_- The House of Potter has entered an Alliance with the Ancient and Most Noble House of Longbottom._

_- The House of Potter enters an Alliance with the Ancient House of Bones._

_- The House of Potter enters an Alliance with the Noble House of Prewett._

_- The House of Potter agrees that it will protect the Most Noble House of Greengrass upon the defeat of the Dark Wizard Tom Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort._

_- The House of Potter enters an Alliance with the organisation known as the Order of the Phoenix._

_- The House of Potter enters an Alliance with the Noble House of McKinnon._

_- The House of Potter enters an alliance with the Noble House of Vance._

_- The House of Potter enters an Alliance with the Ancient House of Meadowes._

_- The House of Potter enters an Alliance with the Noble House of Dumbledore._

_- The House of Potter vows to protect Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry._

_Declarations (Blood-feuds):_

_- The House of Potter declares a blood-feud between itself and the Dark Wizard Tom Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort, his living followers and their families. This includes, but is not limited to; The Ancient and Most Noble Houses of Nott and Selwyn, The Most Noble House of Mulciber, The Ancient Houses of Yaxley, Rosier and Rowle and The Noble Houses of Malfoy, Avery, Rookwood and Dolohov._

_- The House of Potter declares a blood-feud between itself and the wizard Severus Snape._

_Contracts (Marriage):_

_- The House of Potter enters a marriage contract between itself and the Most Noble House of Greengrass, whereby the firstborn son of the House of Potter will have the power to refuse the hand of any unmarried daughter of the House of Greengrass if he deems it appropriate, the exception being if the firstborn Potter son wishes to marry the firstborn daughter of the House of Greengrass, in which case the daughter's parents or magical guardian will make the final decision._

_- The House of Potter enters a marriage contract between itself and the Ancient House of Bones, whereby a son of the House of Bones has first refusal when the first-born daughter of the House of Potter comes of age. However the Houses of Potter may decline the offer of marriage._

_Contracts (Betrothal):_

_- The House of Potter enters a betrothal contract between itself and the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter whereby a daughter born to the House of Potter on the twenty-ninth of February is betrothed to a son of the House of Longbottom born on the first of January._

_- The House of Potter enters a betrothal contract between itself and the Noble House of Prewett whereby the fourth-born daughter of the House of Prewett is betrothed to the third-born son of the House of Potter._

_Debts:_

_- None._

_Loans given:_

_- 50,000 galleons to the Order of the Phoenix._

_- 3,000 galleons to the Noble House of Prewett._

_- 1,000 galleons to Remus John Lupin._

_- 5,000 galleons to Sirius Orion Black._

_- 750 galleons to Peter Pettigrew._

_Life-debts:_

_- Hermione Jean Granger is indebted to Harry James Potter._

_- Ginerva Molly Weasley is indebted to Harry James Potter._

_- Isabel Alexandra Greengrass is indebted to Lily Potter. (inherited)_

_- Gabrielle Marie Delacour is indebted to Harry James Potter._

_- Fleur Émilie Delacour is indebted to Harry James Potter._

_- Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is indebted to Harry James Potter._

_- Ronald Bilius Weasley is indebted to Harry James Potter._

_- The Ministry of Magic of Magical Britain is indebted to Harry James Potter._

_NOTE: The above is only a list of formal contracts, debts, agreements and declarations as lodged with Gringotts Bank. This list does not include informal contracts, debts, agreements and declarations or anything lodged with the Ministry of Magic, the Wizengamot or any other institution other than this Bank._

* * *

"So you, Ron, Hogwarts and the Ministry are all indebted to me?" Harry asked Hermione.

"You undoubtedly saved my life in first year against that troll and you've saved Ron on many occasions. In develops what is called a life debt. We owe our lives to you." Hermione said simply.

"Well that's about to change, I don't want anybody to owe me anything. So Wistnok, I'd like you to cancel all of those life-debts except for the ones owed by Isabel Greengrass, Hogwarts and the Ministry."

Hermione didn't tell Harry that these debts couldn't be cancelled unless the one who owed the debt died or was married to the 'creditor' of the debt. Life-debts could be inherited. If called in, a life debt would essentially enslave the 'debtor'. Both Hermione and the goblins present declined to mention that as well.

"Greengrass? Is she related to Daphne and Astoria Greengrass? Daphne was in my Arithmacy and Ancient Runes classes. She was very bright and in Slytherin." Hermione mused.

"Well according to this I have final say in who they get to marry and the House of Greengrass is under the protection of the House of Potter."

"Are you going to do anything about it?" asked Hermione.

"No, not until I know more. All of those life-debts are obvious but those three. I wonder if there's a link between the Greengrass life-debt, the protection and betrothal contracts," he mused.

"Well, in the meantime you are allied with 8 houses with blood-feuds against the remaining Death Eater families."

"About that, I want to end the feud between the Potters and Severus Snape. I also want to ally the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, Noble House of Granger and the House of Weasley with the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter."

"I was wondering when you'd ask!" grinned Hermione. "It would be my pleasure Lord Potter," she smiled.

"I would also like to recall the loan made to the traitor Peter Pettigrew and waive all other monetary debts. It's not as if I'm going to miss a couple of thousand galleons, but I want every knut back from that rat. Seize all of his assets if there isn't enough in his vault."

"The debt to the late Sirius Black would have cancelled itself out anyway. And it would be ridiculous to demand your godson repay you. A wise decision Harry."

"So to summarise, I'm now a multimillionaire, I have properties all over the world including a private island, I'm in alliance with everyone from the Longbottoms to the Greengrasses and the Ministry and Hogwarts owes me a life-debt."

"Yes, and that's just the Potter inheritance," said Hermione.

"Oh and you're the heir to a Noble House."

"That too. Is that all for the Potter Family, Wistnok?"

"No, but we have covered the essentials. However there may be even more that belongs to the Potters than is listed here. We have never been able to take a complete inventory of the Potter assets. There are lists of investments but they are both long and time consuming."

"What sort of investments?" asked Harry.

"Well the Potters own shares in the Prophet Media Group – they own the _Daily Prophet_ and the _Witch Weekly_ Franchise."

"How much of the _Prophet_ do I own?"

"A 31% stake in the business, through the Potters, there may be more through the Black estate. The portfolio also contains investments in many businesses in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade as well as magical businesses on the Continent and further afield. For example you own shares in mining companies in South Africa and Australia. The Potters also invested wisely in the muggle world, these have in previous years outstripped profits from businesses in the magical world. There are shares in something called Apple – why somebody should invest in a fruit is beyond me but it provides a reasonable rate of return – as well as British Petroleum, Shell and some muggle banking firms such as Barclays' and Lloyds'. May I be the first to say that Gringotts has better financial acumen than either of those two institutions of muggle finance, nevertheless, they provide an adequate dividend," grumbled Wistnok.

"Indeed," continued Pronick, "some of their business practises could be called illegal, especially under magical law and they have nowhere near the financial security you have with us. So I implore you Harry, do not leave your savings in their charge."

"Of course not, I've got complete trust in your abilities." Harry reassured them. "Are there any other investments I should worry about?"

"No. We have to the best of our ability checked that all companies that you invest in, do things in a perfectly legal way according to the laws that govern them in their country of origin."

"So what have these shares been doing since my parents died?" asked Harry.

"The Potters have essentially become silent partners in the businesses that they have invested in from the start of the financial year of 1987." Wistnok explained.

"There is no hurry but when somebody has some time, could Gringotts take say 100,000 galleons from the Lestrange fortune and invest it. Preferably in muggle businesses. I would like the profits from such an endeavour to be fed back to the fortune which I plan to turn into a charitable trust for both the magical and the non-magical."

"Are you sure Harry? That's well over a million galleons," said Wistnok incredulously. He had never known a wizard to be so carefree with his money.

"There's another ten million I can fall back on. The money is of little consequence but I want nothing to do with that fortune, I want it to go to good causes."

"I'll draw up a list," said Hermione, "you'll get it in due course."

"That would be much appreciated, the Bank has little experience in donating its depositors' funds to muggle charities."

"Now before we start on the Black family files, who do I go to, to access this file in the future?" asked Harry.

"My mistake, we haven't yet appointed an account manager for the Potter accounts. Have you got any preferences?" said Pronick.

"Does a goblin called Griphook still work here?"

"Indeed he does. I can summon him for you."

"He was the first goblin I ever met," Harry explained to Pronick. "Can we get him here now before we start on the Black files, he can get acquainted with my massive inheritance while we look over it."

"An excellent suggestion Harry. I'll have him come up right away."

* * *

_A/N: So that is the Potter inheritance. The aerodrome of RAF Sumerdown will come in handy later but Harry now has everything from a private island to the hands of the Greengrass sisters in his charge. Hermione meanwhile has been named an heir…whatever next. Can I apologise for the excessive lists but I feel that when something like this has been done before, it lacks detail. But even then if you read the lists properly, what is mentioned is not necessarily all there is._

_The Greengrasses also come into play._

_Why the Lake District? Beatrix Potter who I believe is one of the inspirations for the use of the name 'Potter', she lived and wrote in the Lake District for many years. Also Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series is a favourite of mine! (Which is also set in the Lake District! One of the more realistic adventure novel series out there and well worth reading.)_

_The island of Lakeland and Lakeside on the banks of Lake Como are inspired by Ian Fleming's house; Goldeneye in Jamaica and the house in the 2006 film version of Casino Royale respectively. The Aston Martin DB5 should be an obvious reference – cheesy I know and quite cliché but the car is beautiful (don't just expect only protection enchantments though!). The same goes for the other vehicles mentioned! I would love a vintage Jaguar that could change at the press of a button. The Potters had good taste. The Jaguar MKII is a favourite of mine – think Inspector Morse!_

_Credit to those who found the reference to the West Wing (comment if you found it and I'll give you a (virtual) gold star)._

_Anyway, thank you for reading. Please review – I like to get feedback that isn't just statistics! But also follow and favourite. I hope you are all enjoying it so far. Next time, the Black inheritance will be looked at, and it could be a little more complex._

___(EDITED: 30-09-14)_


	4. Chapter 4 - In Perpetuity

**Inheritance; Chapter 4 – In Perpetuity**

_A/N: Hello once again and welcome to Chapter 4. I did warn that the Black inheritance would be more complex, and it is. It is also a little less material – in other words, there are less items in the vault – something some people complained about in the reviews for chapter – they didn't like the lengths of the lists. _

_Some people were quite affronted by the lists. Here is an example, copied verbatim (from a guest):_ "_What a boring cliché ridden wish fulfilling phantasy. With the obligatory list of whatever he owns as cherry on top. Think about for a second. Why is it interesting for the reader to read such pointless list? A real writer would just skip over the details and let the reader knows that he owns a lot. It's just meaningless numbers." _

_All I will say is that I like the lists and I'm a stickler for detail, a personal peeve of mine is when a story doesn't give enough detail…if you like you can always skip the list but you will find that you miss those little gems of information that may or may not be important later. The list isn't obligatory, there is a scroll button and you can use it._

_A few people seemed cautious over my appointment of Griphook as the Potter account manager, hopefully this chapter should solve this problem._

_I have been through the first 3 chapters and cleaned them up – the minor grammar errors or word order etc. Nothing that drastically changes the story._

_A note of reassurance which will seem very relevant later – this will not turn into a Harry/Multi story. You'll see what I mean later. This chapter also contains a few OCs which I will explain at the end._

_Now onwards, and in this chapter we go 'international' but let us re-join the story where a proposal is made, but is it accepted?_

* * *

"Mr Potter, we meet again…" announced the hook-nosed goblin that was Griphook.

"Griphook, we have a proposition for you," Pronick said.

"And what would this proposition be? And why would the Director of the Bank be here to offer a proposition to a simple goblin?"

"We are offering you the position of Account Manager for the Potter vaults," declared Pronick. The head Goblin knew that Griphook was one of the Bank's more outspoken goblins but a great financial mind. Ordinarily, Pronick wouldn't have allowed Griphook anywhere near a job such as this, especially considering the history between this goblin and Harry Potter but this was a personal request from a very important account holder, he complied and offered Griphook the prestigious position.

Griphook put is long bony hands together as if in thought before looking Pronick straight in the eye. "And what's in it for me?"

"The great honour of looking after the accounts belonging to the family who rid this country of that menace, Riddle and allowed our fortunes to increase ten-fold in the process." Pronick replied stiffly.

"Considering that the current head of that family aimed to double cross me, tell me why I should work for them?"

"You're only looking at the small picture Griphook," said Pronick. "What you should be looking at area a young witch and wizard who between them head three distinguished families, one of whom controls one of the largest accounts we look after and we see as a valuable ally in the Wizengamot. For once please look at the bigger picture, since when have we had a powerful ally within the Ministry, an ally from whom we have already reaped many rewards from?"

"With all due respect Director, you are missing the point. What do goblins value above all else?" Griphook paused as if waiting for an answer before continuing. "Loyalty. Loyalty to our families. Loyalty to this bank. Loyalty to the Nation. Loyalty to our history, and our heritage. When Potter and his friends tried to double cross me all I saw was disloyalty and betrayal. Not to mention, they carried out only the second known break-in at this Bank in living memory. They're not to be trusted."

"Again the big picture is what you are missing here. As much as I am loath to admit it, that break-in benefited all of us. It led to Tom Riddle's downfall and led to a windfall for us in closing the vaults of known death-eaters without fear of reprisals. How different would this world be if Riddle had killed Harry Potter? As a species we would be the equivalent of the lowliest house-elf. Expendable and disposable."

"Thankfully that hasn't happened." Griphook nodded. It was time to forget about the Sword of Gryffindor and focus on the present. "So what's in it for me?"

"Honour, pride and opportunity." Harry was speaking for the first time since Griphook entered the room. "Now I'm sorry about what happened four years ago, but surely we can look past that. I can understand your actions when we broke into Gringotts and we apologise to you for them but surely even you can see that times have changed."

"Changed for the better I feel." If a goblin could smile wistfully, Griphook smiled wistfully.

"But I still need an account manager who other than looking after my account, can audit some of this massive inheritance that I have received and help me decide what to do with the majority of it. And I want you to be that account manager."

"Why?"

"You are the goblin I know best."

"So even after our history you still want to employ me? You are an enigma Mr Potter."

"Well technically that should be Lord Potter but everyone here can call me Harry."

"I can accept, if you accept my terms." Griphook gave Harry a shrewd stare. "I assume as an account manager you wish me to take care of any investments you may have?"

"Yes?"

"Then as account manager, I request a cut of the profits. Shall we say at five-percent?"

"Griphook!" Pronick and Wistnok both growled, outraged that the goblin would have the tenacity to request terms of employment.

"No." Harry shook his head, smiling slightly. "I can offer a five-percent cut, but it must be split between yourself, and the goblin nation. This also comes with a promise that I wil, at least give my consideration to back any proposal you may wish to put before the Wizengamot."

Griphook eyed his potential employer carefully. Pronick and Wistnok eyed Griphook carefully, silently urging him to accept this offer.

"I take it, the files on your inheritance are all here. Let me take a look…"

"So you'll take the job?" Hermione asked, she had been silent since Griphook entered the room.

"Indeed, Miss Granger, or should I say _Lady_ Granger. One must occasionally sit back and look at the big picture." Griphook replied.

"Two large inheritances plus the Lestrange fortune I take it." Griphook had placed a golden pince-nez upon the bridge of his very large nose. "How ironic that you get the contents of the one vault you tried to break in to."

"Whilst Griphook looks at the Potter file, can I suggest that we look at the Black inheritance. Unlike the Potters, they kept very little by way of items in their vault, most of their assets have been secreted in various properties around the world. I believe the late Walburga Black said that she "didn't want animals looking after her jewellery" despite the fact that over half of the jewellery she ever possessed was goblin made. And again with such a large inheritance and multiple properties there are of course many house elves coming into your possession," warned Wistnok. "Shall we take a look?" He gave everyone seated at the table an identical file marked "Black".

* * *

_The Ancient and Most Noble House of Black_

_The following is a list of contents of the Estate of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, herein referred to as "the House", "the House of Black" or more simply "the Family"._

_Gringotts Holdings – the Gringotts Holidings of the House of Black are as follows:_

_Money_

_3,453,626 galleons, 6 sickles and 9 knuts _

_12,721 livres, 4 sous and 5 derniers_

_349 thalers_

_732 gold escudo, 5 silver reales and 3 pesos_

_Metals and Precious Stones_

_5 tonnes of 24 carat gold bullion_

_12 tonnes of fine silver bullion_

_23 kilograms of goblin refined platinum_

_6 tonnes of precious metals in various forms_

_25 kilograms of uncut diamonds_

_3 tonnes of other precious metals in various forms_

_14 kilograms of uncut rubies_

_9 kilograms of uncut sapphires_

_33 kilograms of uncut emeralds_

_6 kilograms of various cut emeralds_

_107 kilograms of other assorted uncut gemstones, precious and semi-precious stones including opals, garnets, pearls and amethysts _

_2 kilograms of assorted cut gemstones, precious and semi-precious stones_

_Items_

_5 cases of assorted jewellery_

_623 assorted rare books_

_1536 manuscripts, maps and other documents_

_2 goblin silver dinner services_

_182 pieces of goblin crystalwear_

_2 cabinets of potion ingredients_

_3 tapestries_

_18 paintings_

_4 trunks of assorted items_

_723 other items_

_Property in Britain:_

_The Black Estate; comprising of Blackhall - the Black Family seat – and three smaller houses – Camberview, The Lodge and Eastridge. Located on a 54,300 acre estate north of London. Contains thestral stables and a house elf breeding unit. Staffed by 42 domestic house elves with 321 looking after the estate. Unplottable._

_Adderdown House, located in 200 acres of parkland in Devon, staffed by 12 house elves in the house with 21 looking after the park. Unplottable._

_Strangways Manor – family seat of the Lestrange Family in Cheshire. The Black Family own a half share in this estate due to the marriage of the late Bellatrix Black to Rodolphus Lestrange in 1976. The estate comprises of 13,400 acres of farmland, parkland and forest with a small lake. Staffed by 23 house elves with 51 on the estate. Note: as of November 2004, Strangways is also home to 3 indentured servants. Under the Fidelius Charm, unplottable._

_Number 12 Grimmauld Place, London, W3 – the smallest home of the Blacks in Britain. A London townhouse, staffed by a single house elf. Unplottable._

_Malfoy Manor – family seat of the Malfoy Family. The Black Family own a one third stake in this property due to the marriage of Narcissa Black to Lucius Malfoy in 1982. The estate comprises of 240 acres of parkland and 11,300 acres of farmland and woodland on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire. Staffed by 24 house elves with 43 on the estate._

_Property Abroad:_

_Chateau Noir, located in the Loire Valley, France. Located on 32,700 acre estate with 2 vineyards producing bespoke magical wines. The estate is a mixture of vineyards, parkland, woodland and farmland. Staffed by 31 house elves at the chateau, 131 in the vineyards and 133 on the estate. All elves are fluent in English. Unplottable._

_Schloss Schwarz, located on the River Rhine in Germany on a 12,000 acre estate, mostly comprised of woodland. Staffed by 21 house elves with 34 on the estate. Unplottable._

_Astral House, located on the banks of Lake Geneva, Switzerland. Much smaller than the other black properties with a ten acre estate and staffed by 6 house elves with 1 on the estate. Unplottable._

_Vehicles:_

_Thestral drawn landau in black and claret located at Blackhall_

_Thestral drawn coaches in black and claret at Blackhall, Chateau Noir, Schloss Schwarz and Astral House._

_Self-driving sports phaeton in black and claret at Adderdown. _

_3 magic carpets at Chateau Noir, Schloss Schwarz and Astral House._

_41 broom of various makes, models and ages at Blackhall._

_NOTE: The above is not a complete inventory of all Black Family Assets, it does not include the total contents of every estate or any other holdings held by any other business, bank or financial institution unknown to Gringotts._

* * *

"Hermione, what's an indentured servant?" Harry asked his friend who could interpret the legalese.

"Where does it say that?" Hermione looked up from the file.

"For Strangways Manor, the Lestrange property – "as of November 2004, Strangways is home to 3 indentured servants." Any idea what that's about?"

Hermione frowned, the entry for indentured servants came right after house elves. Hermione trawled through her mind, she had come across the term before. In the library at Oxford she was doing some research on colonial America for fun. She remembered that in one book it said that some poorer immigrants to the New World would sign a contract that would see them become indentured to the captain of the ship that transported them to the colonies. This contract could then be sold on to settlers in the colony and the immigrant would then work for a set amount of time before being let go. Hermione summed up the situation; "It's essentially legal slavery, although seeing as it comes from the Lestrange family you could just call it slavery."

Harry gulped as an uneasy silence settled in the room. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I wouldn't be surprised if they were being held at the equivalent standing of a badly treated house elf."

"Wistnok, do we know who they are?"

"No, but judging by the time they were indentured, I would guess that all three are muggle-borns."

Hermione went as white as a sheet and shuddered. "Harry, you've got to free them."

"Yeah," he replied. He thought for a moment before calling for the solitary elf at Grimmauld Place. "Kreacher!" The said elf appeared with a loud crack, slightly startling the goblins present. "Kreacher, do you think you could enter the Lestrange home at Strangways Manor?"

Kreacher also shuddered. He had bad memories of that place. Bellatrix had used him for Cruciatus curse practise after Harry, Ron and Hermione escaped the Ministry. "Yes Master Harry, but Kreacher has bad memories of that place."

"Kreacher can I ask you to find the three servants the Lestranges kept and bring them back here to this room. Their house elves might know. If they don't tell you, tell them that their new owner Lord Black commands them to."

Kreacher nodded, before there was another loud crack as the elf disapparated.

"Isn't slavery illegal in the magical world?" Harry asked.

"As long as the 'slave' isn't human, no. However, some of the laws that Thicknesse passed through effectively made muggle-borns sub-human so having a muggle-born as an 'indentured servant' was legal for a time, and if they've signed contracts they are still legally 'indentured'. When they repealed the legislation, they couldn't do anything about the contracts seeing as they would be magically binding. The best you can do is treat them well, something I doubt the Lestranges have done." Hermione replied.

Harry was about to speak again but was interrupted by Kreacher apparating back. But the elf wasn't alone. He had three others with him. All three were girls with two of the three looking as if they were about Hogwarts age with the third looking older than Harry. They were dressed like badly treated house elves; emaciated with bedraggled hair, barefoot and dressed in what looked like a soiled burlap potato sack with holes cut for the arms and head of each girl so the sack became a 'dress' of some description. They were all shivering in fear. Harry was reminded of how Dobby looked in his pillow case before he left the Malfoys. When they saw Harry, they fell prostrate on the ground.

Hermione, Harry and Kreacher dragged them back up. With Harry telling them to "stop that."

The goblins were watching proceedings in shock. They had never seen a female of any species in such a poor condition. Pronick conjured up a large sofa and levitated over to where the three bewildered girls were told to sit down which they did so gratefully. Hermione took out her wand and was about to clean them up with a couple of tergios but all three recoiled in fear. Hermione had to reassure them that they weren't about to be hurt before cleaning them up as best she could with a few waves of her wand.

"Does Master Harry need anything else?" asked Kreacher.

"See if you can find some clothes for these three. Then get Phoebe Barton at the Auror Office to come out here, then come back here with her and wait for further instructions. Tell Phoebe that Harry Potter needs her help and that he's found three young women who need her help as well."

Hermione was the first to ask questions. "Who are you? What are your names?"

The oldest girl spoke first, she seemed very familiar but Harry couldn't place her. "We don't have names. We don't deserve the honour of a name. We are nobodies who are here to serve you, Master and Mistress."

"We're not your masters." Harry replied.

The girls looked confused. "But you are the next Lord Black?" she looked at Harry. "And you are the next Lady Black?" she turned to Hermione. Hermione blushed at the thought of her being Harry's wife. Harry chuckled slightly. The girls looked affronted, and even more confused.

"I'm Harry Potter, and yes I am the next Lord Black. This is Hermione Granger, Lady Granger. The two goblins here are Pogrook Pronick, Head Goblin and Director of Gringotts Bank. The goblin wearing a monocle is Wistnok, Goblin-in-Charge of Gringotts' Inheritance and Estate Department. You were found to be part of the inheritance."

"Harry Potter? But you're dead. Draco Malfoy is the next Lord Black. Madam Lestrange said so when she bought us. We were for the next Lord Black. Anyway, what's Gringotts?"

"Well I hope I'm not a disappointment." Harry tried to joke but Hermione just glared at him. "Gringotts is a bank, where wizards and witches deposit money." Harry explained.

"We were witches once," reminisced the oldest girl, the other two on the sofa looked too nervous to talk. "Madam Lestrange took our wands."

Harry looked at Hermione. How can you be British, magical and not know about Gringotts? He found a spare piece of parchment, a quill and took a muggle ball-point pen from his pocket. He scribbled a note and gave it to Hermione. _"Have these three been obliviated? If so can the charm be reversed?"_ Hermione's eyes went wide when she read the note, before slipping the note to Pronick. His reaction was similar to Hermione's. Hermione shrugged her shoulders. Harry wrote her another note. _"Do you recognise the oldest one? I can't place her? I think I know her." _ Hermione stared intently at the witch in question before the witch shrank back in fear. Hermione's eyes went wide again. _"Get Percy Weasley here. We do know the oldest witch. It's Penelope Clearwater, his former girlfriend. She must have been obliviated if she doesn't recognise us." _Hermione scribbled furiously onto the back of the second note.

Harry beckoned to Pronick. "Can I send a patronus message to Percy Weasley? One of those girls is his former girlfriend," he whispered into the Director's ear. The goblin nodded.

Harry went out into the long wood panelled corridor and conjured up Prongs. "Find Percy Weasley and tell him that Penelope Clearwater is in Gringotts, she's in a bad way and she needs him." Prongs nodded and set off at a gallop down the hallway.

Harry heard Kreacher apparate back into the meeting room with his characteristic 'crack'.

* * *

"When did you three last eat?" Hermione asked kindly.

The girls just shrugged their shoulders. Hermione thought they looked about as thin as Harry when he was eleven on the Hogwarts Express and made a mental note to get Kreacher to find some food for them. She herself was hungry.

When Kreacher apparated back in, he was carrying a bundle of clothing which he had liberated from one of Grimmauld's many cupboards. Some of it looked like it was from the same era as Ron's dress robes for the Yule Ball in fourth year. The elf then disapparated again.

"It's not ideal but it's better than the sacks you are wearing. Pick out something you like and we'll get it on you." Hermione said. Each girl picked out an outfit, surprised at the kindness they were being shown. When all three had chosen, Hermione performed a simple switching spell and the sacks ended up in a heap on the floor whilst the girls looked positively Elizabethan. Hermione saw a definite improvement.

Pronick beckoned to Harry when he returned to the room. "I'm going to get a team of goblin healers in here to look at them. I think it's disgusting, the way they have been treated."

"I suppose this brings a halt to today's proceedings."

"It merely postpones them. I'm sure we can find sometime for you to go over the rest of your inheritance with Griphook. And it gives Griphook sometime to familiarise himself with your assets."

Harry nodded. "But right now, the most important thing is these three's welfare," he gestured to the sofa where the three girls were sat in their new clothes. "We still don't know for sure who they are."

"We can use our identity parchment – it's the same thing we used to confirm that you are indeed Harry Potter."

"Go for it."

The team of goblin healers arrived and began to set up shop with a trolley of apparatus and a couple of wheeled hospital screens, similar to the ones used in St Mungo's or the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts. It was an all-female team, and it was the first time that Harry had seen a female goblin. The looked more feminine than male goblins with smoother skin and a smaller figure with a full head of long hair. The team leader immediately went to Pronick and bowed before speaking. "Director, what are their names?"

"We don't know yet Ava," he told the nurse, "we think the identity parchment should provide sufficient information though." He handed her 3 sheets before Kreacher apparated back with Phoebe Burton from the Auror Office.

Harry introduced her to everyone and everyone to her. "Director, this is Phoebe Burton a friend of mine in the Auror Office who works in the Specialist Trauma Division. Phoebe, this is Director Pronick, Head Goblin at Gringotts."

Phoebe shook hands with the Director. She was quite tall with blonde hair and sharp blue eyes and wearing a deep blue skirt with matching blazer with her Auror badge on the breast pocket over a crisp white blouse. She was carrying a small black handbag. Phoebe was muggleborn, originally a British expatriate living on Magical Bermuda and working in the small Auror Office there. She had returned after the war, escaping the purges of muggleborns under Thicknesse. As a rule, she never wore robes, except to official events – honestly, who wants to walk around in the equivalent of a long evening dress all day, everyday? Besides, it was warm in Bermuda – too warm for robes.

She'd met Harry when he started working in the Auror Office under the tutelage of Oscar Dawkins – a battle hardened auror who had returned to England from his native Ireland to train new recruits since the end of Voldemort. Dawkins had been friends with the late Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody and they had served together during the first war. The Auror Office had become like a very large, very boisterous family – there were of course some bad apples but everyone on the whole got on well. The department was said to hold one of the best Ministry Christmas parties.

Harry briefly explained the situation to Phoebe who was all for questioning the girls straight away before she learned of Harry suspicion that Percy Weasley's former girlfriend was among the three girls being checked over by the goblins. This was confirmed after Ava handed Pronick the three pieces of parchment. Wistnok and Griphook had moved to another venue to analyse the rest of the Black documents to find any further reference to 'indentured servants' and for Griphook to get acquainted with his new job. With the parchment, the true identities of all three girls were revealed.

* * *

The first piece of parchment confirmed their suspicions:

_Penelope Olivia Clearwater_

_Born: February 7__th__ 1983 to Stephen and Patricia Clearwater (nee Laurence) (muggles)_

_Indentured as a servant to the House of Lestrange and its heirs in perpetuity (as of 2__nd__ November 2004)_

_Education: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (1993-2000)_

_Qualifications: 10 OWLs (8 Outstanding), 5 NEWTs (4 Outstanding)_

* * *

The other two pieces were more interesting:

_Sophia Alexandra Lynd_

_Born: September 12__th__ 1989 to Michael and Barbara Lynd (nee Harris) (muggles)_

_Indentured as a servant to the House of Lestrange and its heirs in perpetuity (as of 4__th__ November 2004)_

_Education: Massachusetts Institute for Junior Magic (1994-1999), North Eastern School of American Magic (2000-2004) (did not complete studies)_

_Qualifications: 5 Junior American Magical Levels, Standard Magical Aptitude and Reasoning Test (SMART) score of 1510_

* * *

_Kathryn Louise Holland_

_Born: December 27__th__ 1989 to James and Sarah Holland (nee Parker)_

_Indentured as a servant to the House of Lestrange and its heirs in perpetuity (as of 8__th__ November 2004)_

_Education: Massachusetts Institute for Junior Magic (1994-1999), North Eastern School of American Magic (2000-2004) (did not complete studies)_

_Qualifications: 5 Junior American Magical Levels, Standard Magical Aptitude and Reasoning Test (SMART) score of 1530_

* * *

"So of the three, Penelope Clearwater we sort of know and the other two are American?" Harry thought out loud.

"It would seem so. I'm more worried about the fact that it says their indenture is 'in perpetuity' to the Lestrages and their heirs. That means you." Hermione looked at Harry pointedly. "You are the heir to the House of Lestrange whether you like it or not. And, whether you like it or not, you can't free them without both you and the three of them losing all capacity to perform magic. If you break the terms of the indenture, your magical core will be extinguished. Sadly they can't be freed. All we can do is treat them well, get them new wands and treat them as family rather than servants." Hermione summarised.

"Yeah, I suppose so." Harry replied, staring at the screen behind which the healers were working.

"It is almost the worst case scenario." Phoebe said. "At the moment we can't do anything about it."

"Are we certain that they are under memory charms? Or is it some sort of amnesia brought on by their experiences?" Harry asked, mulling the situation over.

"They have to be under memory charms – Penelope didn't know what Gringotts even was and she had a short stint working for the Bank. That and she didn't recognise you or me, Harry."

"Is it reversible?"

"Should be – I was able to reverse the memory charm I put on my parents. Usually it requires the original caster to reverse the charm." Hermione mused. "Bellatrix is dead but I've still got her wand – I kept it after the Battle, it's at home somewhere. Using her wand might work."

"Where is the wand?" asked Phoebe.

"In a shoe box in the attic at my parents' house."

"I can get Kreacher to go and get it." Harry offered.

"Harry, you can't, I'll have to get it."

"Why?" asked Harry, bemused.

"If you send Kreacher, he'll break clause three of the Code of Wand Use – _no non-human creature is permitted to carry or use a wand._" Hermione rattled off, recalling the words of Amos Diggory when they found Winky with Harry's wand at the Quidditch World Cup.

"Oh, I'll get Kreacher to take you."

As if on cue, Kreacher apparated back in with a very confused Percy Weasley in tow.

"Harry! What's going on? Where's Penny? What happened? Is she OK? Is it really her? She went missing on Halloween in 2004." the newcomer started to spew questions.

"Good morning to you too Percy. Penelope is getting checked over now by the goblins. She and two others are in a pretty bad way."

"What happened?"

"Well in short, I inherited the Lestrange fortune and she and two unfortunate American girls came with it as 'indentured servants'." Harry said stiffly.

"I thought we repealed the laws that allowed that after the war?"

"We did but unfortunately it couldn't do anything for those who had already signed contracts. Unfortunately for Penelope, Sophia and Kathryn, they signed contracts that will hold them in perpetuity. I think they only became indentured because they were muggleborns." Phoebe spoke for the first time since Percy arrived. Hermione winced, thankful that it was not her in Penelope Clearwater's position.

"So in short, Penny and the other two are essentially your slaves, in perpetuity." Percy summarised.

"Sadly so." Harry nodded.

"Can I see Penny?"

"Not yet, the goblins are still checking her over. We also suspect that they've all been put under memory charms. Penny didn't even know what Gringotts was. Bellatrix took their wands. They looked like maltreated house-elves when they came here. We had to get them some clothes, which will do for the moment." Hermione told the ex-head boy.

Percy grimaced. "Can I help in any way? You've called me here for a reason."

"I thought you ought to know. You were in a serious relationship with Penelope as I remember." Harry replied. "I've got no intentions to 'maltreat' them. But when we – if we – lift the memory charms, we'll need all the help we can get rehabilitating these three."

"Any and all help can give Harry, I'm at your disposal." Hermione and Harry smiled at him. "You said the other two were American?"

"Yes, judging by their school history – North Eastern School of American Magic." Hermione said.

"I've still got a few friends across the pond from my time in the Department for International Magical Co-operation. I can could make some inquiries."

"Oh, could you? That would be really helpful."

"I'll give you a copy of their details," said Pronick who was waving his hands over the parchment as it duplicated.

The three girls were still being examined behind the screen with the goblins casting their own forms of diagnostic charms and noting things of interest down. The diagnostic charms analysed everything, from pulse rate to magical signature. Ava eventually emerged from behind the screen.

"You were right, someone did perform a memory charm on them. From what we can see through our analysis is that it was somebody with a dark magical signature so in all probability this is the work of the late Bellatrix Lestrange."

"Is the charm removable?" asked Percy.

"It should be, with the right materials." Ava replied. "You'll need the wand that performed the charm, and ideally the caster of the charm but in this case anyone with a powerful enough magical signature should be able to lift the charm. Wands will remember every spell they ever cast Mr Weasley and channel the caster's magic. So in this case it a simple matter of uttering the countercharm while holding the wand that cast the memory charm in the first place."

"Well that settles it then." Harry said before calling Kreacher over. "Kreacher, I want you to take Hermione to her parents' house so she can find Bellatrix Lestrange's wand."

Kreacher nodded and offered his arm to Hermione. "We'll be back in as soon as possible." Hermione told Harry, She turned to the elf, "Kreacher, my parents' live at Number Seventeen, Cornwall Gardens, Kensington."

"Take my arm Miss Hermione," said the elf in his bullfrog voice. "We'll appear on the pavement outside." The two of them then disappeared with a loud crack.

* * *

_A/N: Well I did say complex. I hope I haven't shot myself in the foot in this chapter! (And it was going so well!) But I thought it would be boring without a few plot twists and a bit of drama. Let me know what you think of the latest twist. I reiterate my earlier comment – this will NOT become a Harry/Multi story._

_Life could get worse for Draco, depending on how Harry wants to act. We haven't seen the paperwork side of the Black inheritance yet. The Granger inheritance will eventually be revealed._

_Why don't the Blacks have cars? Simple; would a 'proper pureblood' family have a car? It's such a muggle device._

_Somebody was saying that Hermione will want to free elves left, right and centre – 15 year old Hermione maybe but 21 year old Hermione has matured a bit – war does that to you._

_As for the OCs – for Phoebe Burton, think Teri Polo as Helen Santos in the West Wing but British. For Oscar Dawkins think Gabriel Byrne – the surname 'Dawkins' is inspired by a character he played in the Channel 4 miniseries Secret State broadcast in 2012 – you can find it on 4OD. I think both may reoccur. I haven't really decided on Sophia and Katherine yet – at the moment all three look like a human Dobby when he left the Malfoys._

_Percy is currently deputy head of the Department for Magical Transportation._

_Let me know what you think of my brief delve into my version of the American Magical Education system. I'm particularly proud of SMART which is a magical version of the SAT (pre-2005) where points go up to 1600. However I am no expert on America seeing as i live in Britain._

_The Grangers live in Kensington – well would it be really that surprising if Hermione went to a private prep school in south west London? I imagine Dominic Granger (Hermione's dad) drives a black Jaguar saloon…_

_Well that's about it for now. Chapter 5 will be up as soon as I can write it. As always please leave a review – be it a brief comment or a detailed analysis or merely to pick out an error – follow and favourite. This story is currently sitting at 4,608 views, 107 followers and 60 favourites so somebody is reading this and for that I thank you. See you next time…in which we explain things to the adult Grangers, the memory charm is lifted to some extent Mrs Weasley makes an appearance and we take a look at the rest of the paperwork. Be aware that this is all subject to change and is completely unconfirmed…_


	5. Chapter 5 - Pureblood Evolution

**Inheritance; Chapter 5 – Pureblood Evolution**

_A/N: Hello! And welcome to instalment number five of this story. This is in fact, as of 30-09-14, the result of a merger between chapters five and six. The original chapter five has been edited and will be re-released as a one-shot under the title of "Number Seventy Seven Cornwall Gardens". _

_On the other hand, some people seemed to enjoy the original chapter and you are all still reading it so I must have done something right. It was also nice to come across some constructive criticism for a change and no the flaming, illegible rants I usually call negative reviews. Now to this. In the following chapter we meet the Slytherins of this story, and so we journey to Malfoy Manor…_

* * *

The late morning peace in Cornwall Gardens was shattered at about a quarter to twelve by the characteristic crack of a house elf apparating onto the greensward that was the centre piece of the street. The leafy avenue was devoid of traffic, the occupants of the houses were either already at work or jetted off to all four corners of the globe for the summer – from Addis Ababa to Zakynthos in Greece. Kensington was one of the wealthiest boroughs in London. You could tell that by simply looking at the cars that were usually parked outside houses on the street – large top of the range luxury saloons or SUVs, if it was anything smaller, it was no more than two years old. The whitewashed walls of the houses, the colonnaded porches, the immaculate small front gardens all signalled high quality living.

Kreacher looked at the neighbourhood and then looked at Hermione. He was impressed. Kreacher had been losing many of the prejudices he had had about muggles, muggleborns and 'blood-traitors'. As much as the interior of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place had been modernised and restored to its former glory, it did nothing to the dingy square it was located in. Cornwall Gardens was a much nicer area of London. Kreacher admired the fact that the Grangers showed good taste in accommodation.

Hermione looked at Kreacher taking the sight in before worrying about whether the muggles would see this strange creature staring at their homes. Kreacher, always one to assume the thoughts of his masters had to reassure her – "the muggles cannot see me." Hermione then turned to look across the greensward and looked at her childhood home. She then guided Kreacher across the street to the front door.

Number Seventy Seven Cornwall Gardens had an identical impressive facade to Numbers 75 and 79 either side of it. Hermione could see her mother's silver and black Smart car stood outside the house. It didn't necessarily mean her mother was in though, she often took the daily commute to the dental practise with Hermione's dad in his black Jaguar XJ saloon.

Hermione marched up to the door of Number 77 and rang the doorbell. There was no answer so she extracted her key to the house from her pocket and opened the door. She stood on the threshold, and memories from her childhood started to flood back.

* * *

Draco Malfoy sat in the dining room at Malfoy Manor, a shell of his former self. The time since the end of the war had not been kind to him. He and his family's reputation was in tatters. His father was sent to Azkaban for life, the only way Lucius Malfoy would ever leave Azkaban would be in a wooden box. The elder Malfoy had been stripped of his title, his wealth and his liberty. This had the added effect of removing his dignity.

At one time, the Draco saw his family's gold flowing everywhere, the very name 'Malfoy' commanded and demanded respect both in Britain and on the Continent. The Noble House of Malfoy was in the upper echelons of pureblood society having been readmitted after the first demise of the Dark Lord. Today, the Noble House of Malfoy was seen by its fellow pureblood families as one that was foolish enough to follow a megalomaniac in pursuing a dream of pureblood supremacy. The megalomaniac had failed and the Malfoys, the Averys, the Notts, the Yaxleys, the Lestranges, the Selwyns, the Rosiers, the Mulcibers and the Rowles had paid the price. In some cases the ultimate price. All because they backed the wrong horse in a two horse race. "History is always written by the victors." Malfoy mused.

Draco was fortunate. Harry Potter had actually defended him and his mother in the Wizengamot after the family had been caught trying to flee to their home in Brittany. His father was a lost cause, he had done too much. They couldn't even pay a weak willed Ministry official all the gold in the family vault at Gringotts to turn a blind eye to Lucius Malfoy's activities. There were two reasons for this; nobody in the Ministry wanted to deal with anyone who had even the simplest business relationship with the Malfoys and the goblins had seized eighty five percent of the Malfoy Family vault in reparations for the activities which had occurred at Malfoy Manor which had led to deaths of many goblins. So Malfoy Senior was incarcerated, doomed to die on that lonely island out in the middle of the North Sea.

Draco and his mother had many of their remaining properties seized. Thankfully, they could still call the Manor home, but even the Manor seemed a shell of its former self, much like its owners. He only ever saw his mother at meal times, she confined herself to her room for most of the time. The rarely went out any more. Draco hadn't been to London in weeks. His mother hadn't left the Manor grounds for months. Nobody talked to them, they talked to no one. Both were in a period of deep reflection. Where had it all gone wrong?

* * *

For Draco, it had to be that moment in Madam Malkin's, when he had first come across Harry Potter. Looking back on it he had been tactless, if he had wanted to be friends with Potter, he should have tried a different approach. He had been too full of himself and had seen himself as God's own gift to the Wizarding World. He wasn't, he was just another pureblood, a comparatively minor one at that compared to some of the most respected families such as Black, Potter, Abbott and Bones. In comparison, all the Malfoys had was a lot of gold which they were willing to spend. He hadn't realised it at the time but most of the money in his family had come from his parent's marriage and the dowry Narcissa gave Lucius. Rather than befriending those who would have future influence in his world he took his pureblood beliefs to heart and attempted to become Prince of Slytherin. He antagonised his classmates who always eventually got the better of him and his partners in crime were more brawn than brains. Crabbe and Goyle were comparable to gorillas of higher than average intelligence.

The greatest insult to his time at Hogwarts, and his beliefs in general was Hermione Granger. How could a muggleborn of no standing be better than him – a pureblood princeling - in every lesson? Even Malfoy had to admit that she was possibly the brightest witch he had ever met. She would have been desirable marriage material had she been a pureblood or at very least only had distant muggle ancestry. But in the end it didn't matter, she hated him, he hated her and she had bested him several times – much to the disdain of his father.

* * *

For Narcissa, although she had a hard time admitting it, things had gone wrong from the moment she married Lucius. Yes she liked him, even loved him, but he limited her. She was expected to be 'lady of the manor', to provide an heir to the esteemed Malfoy family and then care for said child whilst acting as a gracious hostess or an elegant dance partner for the rest of her life. But deep down, Narcissa knew that her marriage to Lucius prevented her from doing many things – she couldn't have a career ("pureblood wives have house elves to do work for them"), she always had to tell Lucius what she as doing and where she was going if she ever went out alone and Lucius ensured she rarely did. And the last night the two of them were ever intimate was the night of Draco's conception. Narcissa had always wanted children, not just a single Malfoy heir but Lucius dashed her dreams – "There would be no point in having another son, they'd only fight over the estate when they are set to inherit and with an heir there will be no need to have any other children because the family future will be secure. They would be a waste of resources." Lucius had explained to her. But Narcissa already knew this, the only reason her parents had three children was because they were trying desperately for a male heir to preserve the Black family name. Instead every time her mother gave birth, it was to a daughter.

In retrospect, of the three of them her eldest sister Andromeda had been most fortunate. She was still alive and even had a grandchild and a multitude of supportive friends. Bellatrix was dead, killed by Molly Weasley in the final moments of the Battle of Hogwarts. She had always been the wildest of the sisters and her relationship with Voldemort had unhinged what little sensibility she possessed. She had turned into a psychotic killer and the Dark Lord's right hand woman.

All three sisters had been close before Bellatrix had started Hogwarts, from then on they had begun to drift apart. Andromeda was disowned by her parents a few years after leaving Hogwarts when she married Ted Tonks, a muggleborn who was killed in the Second Wizarding War along with her daughter and son–in-law. But Narcissa envied the freedom Andromeda had given herself when she left the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black – she could pursue her dreams while Narcissa was stuck with Lucius in a controlling marriage.

Andromeda had also prevented a longstanding betrothal contract from coming into play between her and Rodolphus Lestrange, Bellatrix married Rodolphus instead. The Lestranges may have been purebloods but they were not the type of people Narcissa would usually be seen fraternising with and the war had seen to the end of that particular pureblood family.

Both Narcissa and Andromeda had survived the war, she didn't morn their other sister. She was long gone into the depths of the Dark Lord's depravity and madness by the end. Neither had survived intact and they were not in any form of contact what so ever. They hadn't seen each other in more than two decades, even though the war had ended, Narcissa didn't have the courage to face her sister and didn't even know whether her sister would want to know her any more. The heart of the matter was that Narcissa was afraid of rejection from the sister she had been closest two until Andromeda had been disowned.

Draco had always thought he would be first in line for the Black family fortune – being the closest male living relative so it was a shock when nothing came from Gringotts on his twenty-first birthday the previous October. Stupidly he had gone to Gringotts the following week to check whether there had been a mistake. All the goblins had told him with a smile (which was nearer an unpleasant leer) was that he was not the heir to the prestigious family. The previous head of the family, although he never assumed the lordship, had left an heir designated in his will. Magic had accepted the designation. Draco had stormed from the bank in a fit of rage and then proceeded to down three bottles of firewhiskey in one sitting. The next morning he vowed never to drink again.

So it had been a shock when on the second of August, a Gringotts eagle had arrived with letters for both Draco and Narcissa.

* * *

_Dear Mr Malfoy,_

_As you may know, the Noble House of Malfoy comes under the jurisdiction of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black in matters of family. This is because, the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black is the most senior family within Magical Britain which the Noble House of Malfoy have chosen to associate themselves with through the marriage of Narcissa Black to Lucius Malfoy._

_As you may also know, the incarceration of the current Lord Malfoy in Azkaban Prison renders the title of "Lord" forfeit in perpetuity. As there is no longer a Lord within your family, your family is officially absorbed into the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black upon the accession of the Black heir to the title of Lord Black. You retain the original family name of Malfoy and control of your family's (dwindling) finances but are subjects to the new Lord Black._

The letter then divulged some truly shocking information.

_The accession of the new Lord Black occurred today, hence you are a recipient of this letter. Gringotts has felt it prudent to inform you of the identity of the new Lord Black. He is one Harry James Potter, son of the late James and Lilly Potter (nee Evans) and also holds the title of Lord Potter, Head of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter as well as the muggle titles of the Earl of Windermere and Viscount Coniston._

_Gringotts advises you to contact the new Lord Black as soon as possible and ascertain your position with him._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Griphook Goblin_

_Account Manager to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter,_

_Account Manager to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black._

* * *

Although he didn't know it, his mother's letter was almost exactly the same. But their attitude to the letters was quite different. Draco was shocked, surprised and angry. He felt that something that rightfully belonged to him had now gone to his nemesis. Not to mention the fact that his noble family was now subordinate to Potter.

Narcissa saw a chance to turn over a new leaf and begin her life afresh. She no longer had to answer to Lucius or Draco for now they both answered to a higher authority.

What they both were unaware of was the existence of a third letter, addressed to a _Mrs A. Tonks, 18 Laburnum Road, Ballingbrook, Kent._ Andromeda had been expecting the letter ever since Harry reinstated her on the tapestry, it was standard procedure for Gringotts and she also wondered whether her estranged sister had received a similar piece of parchment. Unknown to Narcissa, Andromeda had debated whether to reconnect with her sister many times since the end of the war. But she didn't know if she was ready to face the wife of a man who was part of a group which killed her husband, her daughter and her son-in-law, leaving her grandson an orphan. She also didn't know where her sister stood. Would Narcissa want to even reconnect or did she still see her as a blood traitor who was just as bad as the muggleborn she had married. Maybe if her sister contacted Harry, she would get a better idea.

* * *

August the second at Greengrass Hall, family seat of the Most Noble House of Greengrass, began like any other. Lord Adrian and Lady Isabelle Greengrass had breakfast with their two daughters, Daphne and Astoria. Adrian, Daphne and Astoria all then apparated to work – Adrian and Daphne to the family's import export business in several unplottable warehouses in the Thames Estuary while Astoria went to the Ministry and her job in the Department for international Magical Co-operation where she was a junior aide to the British delegation to the International Confederation of Wizards.

Isabelle was alone when the standard Gringotts eagle glided into the drawing room. The letter read as follows:

* * *

_Dear Lady Greengrass,_

_I am writing to inform you that the life debt you owed the late Lily Potter (nee Evans) has been inherited by her son Harry James Potter, upon his accession to his position as Head of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter and the title of Lord Potter._

_The life debt in question came in to being on the 6__th__ of November 1980 when she pulled you out of the path of an explosion in Potions lesson at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The existence of the debt was recognised by magic soon after._

_As you know a life debt can only be repaid by saving the life of the debt's owner or marrying him or her. Life debts are immediately voided upon the death of the debtor._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Griphook Goblin_

_Account Manager to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter,_

_Account Manager to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black._

* * *

Isabelle Greengrass sighed. She and Lily Evans had been good friends at Hogwarts, both had displayed a certain aptitude for Potions under Professor Slughorn although as the letter had reminded her, accidents could happen at any time.

It had been their regular Thursday afternoon double Potions lesson in her penultimate year at Hogwarts. Isabelle and Lily had always worked together in Potions as at the time Ravenclaw and Gryffindor sixth year Potions together. Lily was still reeling from the grave insult she had received from Severus Snape at the end of the previous year. Isabelle was trying to support her as a dutiful friend should.

The potion they were brewing that November afternoon was an antidote to Congreve's Concoction – a very potent potion. They were brewing possibly the most dangerous potion in the room – Slughorn having given them the most challenging assignment in respect for their obvious talent. Something went wrong and acting purely on instinct, Lily threw her to the ground while she was looking down into the cauldron, a split second later the cauldron blew to pieces. Lily shielded her with her own body and suffered a couple of broken ribs as the shockwave impacted her body. Slughorn meanwhile shielded the other occupants of the classroom with his wand before vanishing the shattered cauldron and the mixture it contained. Everyone present was quite certain that had Lily acted the way she had, Isabelle wouldn't be here some twenty years later thinking about it.

The two remained close until their respective marriages – Lily to her school sweetheart and long-time admirer, James Potter and she to Adrian Greengrass, heir to the Greengrass business empire and a year older than herself. By the time of her marriage, the battle lines had been drawn Lily and James were firmly anti-Voldemort, Adrian's family had decided to remain neutral and Isabelle being his wife, followed him. But James and Lily promised that they would shield the Greengrasses from any fall out they might receive once Voldemort had been defeated. Adrian had been prefect and Head Boy during his time in Slytherin house at Hogwarts and his family were considered by some to be 'dark'. The nature of the Greengrass' business also led to them dealing with people from all backgrounds – from Death Eaters to Dumbledore. Consequentially, they expected some fall out whatever the result of the First Wizarding War.

The war did end, but at a price. Voldemort was temporarily vanquished but not before he had managed to kill James and Lily. Isabelle went to their funerals along with Adrian. For some reason though, the most powerful dark wizard of the past century couldn't kill a boy who was barely a toddler. The infant Harry Potter then disappeared from the Wizarding World altogether for the next decade. In the meantime, Isabelle had had two daughters – Daphne was born a month before Harry was while Astoria followed two years later. After Astoria's birth, the healers quickly discovered that she could no longer bear children so the Greengrasses were left without a male heir.

After Daphne's birth, Isabelle and Adrian had seriously considered approaching the Potters with a betrothal contract, if only to strengthen the bonds of protection. James and Lily refused them outright but James did agree to a contract which gave Lord Potter final say over who Daphne and Astoria could marry, so if the unthinkable were to happen and Adrian and Isabelle were killed, Daphne and Astoria couldn't be forced into marriage they didn't want.

Then James and Lily were killed and everything hung in the balance. Luckily the Greengrasses were able to escape any fallout from their business dealings with the Death Eaters. When Daphne started to attend Hogwarts, Isabelle had originally told her to get in touch with Harry to see how the land lay in relation to the alliance between the Potters and the Greengrasses. But Daphne refused, on the grounds that the rest of Slytherin House, led by a certain Draco Malfoy, would ridicule her if she did and she really didn't want the attention. Besides, being in Gryffindor, he would want nothing to do with her. Nevertheless, Daphne kept an eye on him whilst playing the part of Slytherin Ice Queen – she never had a relationship with a boy before, during or since Hogwarts and when Theodore Nott approached her to be his date for the Yule Ball, she hexed him. Daphne simply didn't want the attention.

Not focusing on relationships had let Daphne fly. Academically, she was the smartest girl in her year in Slytherin and possibly the second or third most intelligent in the year behind Hermione Granger. Daphne did comment about her many times in her letters home. Most were filled with respect for how a muggle-born could know so much. Isabelle and Adrian hadn't brought up their daughters to be prejudiced against muggles or muggleborns and saw the pureblood doctrine for supremacy as ridiculous but even they were shocked that a girl who had known nothing of magic before the age of eleven could now know so much and be so ahead of her peers – some of whom had known about magic all their life. Hermione reminded Isabelle of Lily and the descriptions Daphne gave of Harry sounded a little like James but more measured.

Since the end of the Second Wizarding World, the Greengrasses had foreseen the need for change and had started to embrace some aspects of muggle life. When Isabelle and Adrian really looked at the situation, they saw some aspects of magic as brilliant and unmatched in the muggle world but in many cases, magic seemed primitive compared to the muggle way of life.

It had started with pens. Since time immemorial, there has been some form of writing and whilst muggles had invented pens and pencils, wizards had stuck to writing with the feathers of birds. This could get both complicated and messy. So the Greengrasses had started to use muggle writing methods – a fountain pen could easily be charmed so it never ran out of ink and a pencil charmed so it always stayed sharp. And pens were cheap – over a dozen to the sickle and could be replaced at the drop of a hat – available in any muggle stationary shop.

The Greengrasses had then proceeded to install electricity in Greengrass Hall after developing shielding for it from the ambient magic in the manor. With electricity came electric lights, central heating and a communications revolution. No longer did the Greengrasses have to pull out their wands for everything and they didn't have to endure draughty fireplaces in the winter. They had some muggle comforts. The whole set up had been engineered by the house elves who now all had walkie-talkies to communicate with each other so they didn't have to leave a job half done if they suddenly needed to get assistance. The girls and Adrian now had smart phones – they could contact almost anyone in the world, anywhere in the world at any time at the touch of a button without having to wait hours or days for owls to arrive with urgent messages.

Adrian had also embraced muggle transportation. Apparition doesn't work over large bodies of water. Portkeys require a lot of paperwork and the Floo Network is uncomfortable – who can bear the soot? And in terms of muggle transportation, brooms are slow. So Adrian had taken to flying on a muggle aeroplane to America and the Continent – he reported it to be a very comfortable experience, even if the food was a bit off sometimes. Flying in First Class from London to New York was done in seven hours in the utmost comfort, peace and quiet and Adrian was amazed that he could relax in a metal tube at five hundred miles-an-hour. It was quick, quiet, clean and comfortable. He had promised Isabelle a trip to New York later that summer and Isabelle couldn't wait. Why didn't wizards use this all the time? All in all, Isabelle thought that Magical Britain had become rather backward in its approach to life. It had to adapt, or die.

* * *

By this time, Kreacher and Hermione had made it up to the attic of Number 77 Cornwall Gardens. Kreacher had found her old trunk immediately after Hermione gave a description of it to Harry's loyal house-elf. Sometimes she had to blink and do a double take. Was this really the same house elf who when he first met her his first words were "another filthy mudblood dirtying the name of Black, if my Mistress were here now she'd roll in her grave…" Hermione thought that any change in Kreacher would be a change for the better and the old elf had gradually lost most, but not all of his questionable traits.

From the trunk, she extracted Bellatrix's original wand. She had thought about snapping the thing but decided against it, such an object could come in useful again and it served a useful reminder of the dark witch. It was a symbol of what not to aspire to. Hermione checked the trunk for anything else she might want at the present time. There was nothing.

They left the attic and Hermione left a note to tell her parents that she had dropped by to get something from her old trunk in the attic lest they worry that the house had been broken into.

Hermione and Kreacher left the way they had come, disapparating on the greensward outside Number 77 Cornwall Gardens. They left the inhabitants of the street none the wiser for them ever having been there in the first place.

* * *

_A/N: Now I'm expecting some criticism of the way I've portrayed the Greengrasses but then every writer gets it. By all means post your feedback in the box below. I look forward to reading it. I hope the Malfoys have suitably intrigued you. Feel free to post praise, comments, criticism, observations, corrections and thoughts below…_

_(I know it's short but it just worked out that way…)_

___(EDITED: 30-09-14)_


	6. Chapter 6 - Restitutio Mentis Reficere

**Inheritance; Chapter Six – Restitutio Mentis Reficere**

_A/N: I'm astounded people are still reading this, I should really find some time to revise some of this and plan it properly but I just can't find the time…any help would be appreciated…_

_On a different note, I have a small __**request**__; I have an idea for a Harry Potter themed quiz show, based along the lines of University Challenge or College Bowl as I think it is known as in the USA, so I would appreciate if you loyal readers could __**provide me with some questions and answers about the magical world.**__ However these questions must not be about the Golden Trio and their friends, instead could I have some questions and answers for magical or even muggle history, art, culture, cooking, music and sport._

_Onwards then and Hermione has returned from Kensington and we get some introduction to our three damsels in distress…_

* * *

When Hermione apparated back to Diagon Alley from Cornwall Gardens she found the situation in Gringotts hadn't really changed other than Griphook giving her a note to give to Harry as she was walking along the corridor to the meeting room where the others were waiting. There was a uniformed Gringotts guard on the door who looked at her shrewdly before nodding at her curtly and standing aside so she could enter the room. Kreacher had already gone ahead seeing as he could apparate directly into the room – house elf magic has its perks. The elf had brought in a variety of foods from Grimmauld Place on silver platters and placed them off to the side like a buffet for the room's occupants.

Wistnok had left the room, presumably to assist Griphook in his endeavours (the goblin attitude was 'empires can fall and kingdoms crushed but business must go on') or as Hermione latter found out, to contact Gringotts' affiliate banks in America to find out more about the two unexpected items in the inheritance. The goblin healers were still looking after the newly released girls and dosing them with liberal amounts of potions that Hermione didn't recognise and giving them lunch from the silver platters. Harry, Phoebe and Pogrook Pronick were deep in conversation. Phoebe was first to notice Hermione's arrival.

"Have we got the wand?" she asked.

"Yes. What do we need to do with it?"

"Well first we need to confirm that this was the wand that cast the memory charm in the first place and then we can see if it is reversible."

"And if it is irreversible?" asked a worried looking Harry.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Let's cast the charm then. Penelope first, she seems strongest." Hermione suggested, Phoebe went over to one of the healers to ask for their permission. Meanwhile Hermione gave Harry the note Griphook had entrusted her with.

* * *

_Harry,_

_As a matter of standard procedure I have informed all parties who were not present today but mentioned within the Potter and Black inheritance of your new status as of this morning. This includes members of the Houses of Longbottom, Abbot, Prewett, Greengrass, Weasley, Nott, Selwyn etc._

_Of particular mention is the House of Malfoy. The members of this family now answers to the House of Black as the lordship of Malfoy was forfeit after the head of the family was incarcerated in Azkaban._

_The only surviving members of the House of Black – Andromeda Tonks (nee Black) and Narcissa Malfoy (nee Black) were also informed as a common courtesy._

_As soon as time allows, I urge you to take a look at the outstanding debts, loans, contracts and declarations of the House of Black as many conflict with that of the House of Potter. Of particular note are some of the investments made by the Blacks including a further ten percent stake in the Prophet Media Group._

_You should expect all those advised to ascertain their current status with you to contact you by owl in the next few days._

_I understand that the current situation has altered things somewhat but I advised you to meet with me as soon as possible._

_May your enemies be vanquished and your gold flow freely._

_Griphook Goblin_

_Account Manager for the Most Noble and Ancient House of Potter_

_Account Manager for the Most Noble and Ancient House of Potter_

* * *

Harry quickly read the note before explaining the contents to Hermione. Pronick just nodded and murmured "standard procedure".

Phoebe returned with her diagnosis; "For Miss Clearwater, everything suggests that it was Lestrange who obliviated her, thankfully it should be reversible. The charm was strong, but not as strong as it could be."

"So how do we reverse it?" asked Harry, looking uncertainly at the screens behind which the healers were working.

"Ideally, we'd have the initial caster perform the counter charm but seeing as Lestrange is dead…"

"Could another person perform the counter charm and still restore their memories? I put a memory charm on my parents for the duration of the second war and I restored them without any difficulty later."

"So you already know the counter?" asked Phoebe, Harry had told her that Hermione was a gifted witch.

"Yes."

"Well another caster could try, if it didn't work the counter wouldn't lead to any further damage. We've found that the more powerful the caster, the better the chance of success. But it has to be done with Lestrange's wand."

"What's the incantation?" asked Harry.

"_Restitutio Mentis Reficere,"_ replied Hermione while Phoebe nodded in concurrence.

"Well if Hermione tries it first – she managed to restore her parents' memories so she had the experience and the wand knows her."

"And if I can't do it, you'll have to try. You've always been more powerful in your spell casting." Harry nearly blushed at the complement.

"Well, we won't know anything until we try something. Can we do it now?" asked Harry.

"The goblins told me that they were ready when you are, Miss Clearwater seems in better shape than the other two, and Percy Weasley is with her now."

Hermione took a few moments to practise the wand movement and the incantation before stepping around the screen to where Penelope was lying on a conjured camp bed, Percy Weasley was sat in a chair at her side holding her hand. For once in his life he was nervous. He jumped up when Hermione entered.

"Have we got a solution?" he asked.

"We've got a plan," she told Percy before focusing on Penny. "Now, I'm not going to hurt you," she said kindly as she produced Bellatrix's wand. Penny shrank back when she recognised the wand in her hand. "I'm not Madam Lestrange, I'm just trying to help you. All I'm going to do is cast a single harmless charm that will help you. Are you OK with that?" she asked soothingly.

Penny gave the briefest of nods. Hermione smiled nervously – there was no way to predict how a person would react if you lifted a memory charm. Hermione remembered how her parents had reacted – her Dad had taken it in his stride while her mother had burst into tears after she realised what had happened and had to be comforted by her husband and daughter. Both had recovered and had moved back to Britain, where they were welcomed back by her aunt and uncle who had been told that all three had gone abroad to work for a charity and would be incommunicado for the foreseeable future.

"_Restitutio Mentis Reficere" _she incanted whilst waving Bellatrix's wand in a complicated pattern. Nothing seemed to change so Hermione tried again and was extra careful with the wand movement. The second time around it worked. 'Must have been the wand movement' she thought.

Penny acted like she had woken up suddenly before looking around the room before she focused on Hermione and Percy, her bedraggled blonde hair swishing as she turned her head. "Percy? Is that you? Where's my wand? What was the last thing you said to me when we broke up after you went to work for Umbridge?" Penny said uncertainly.

"I said; 'I love you but this job is more important than my relationships right now.'" Percy winced at the thought of his former self. Penny sat up and hugged him.

"What happened to me?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" asked Percy as Hermione just nodded at him as Percy engulfed the newly restored Penny in a hug. Percy had the situation under control.

* * *

"I assume whatever you did worked?" asked Ava, the chief goblin healer. "I've got a brief summary of Miss Clearwater's injuries and we've nearly finished analysing Miss Lynd and Miss Holland." The goblin handed a piece of parchment to Hermione.

* * *

_GOBLIN MEDICAL SERVICES_

_Patient – Penelope Olivia Clearwater (Born: February 7th 1983 to Stephen and Patricia Clearwater (nee Laurence) (muggles) Age: 25)_

_Current Status – Originally indentured as a servant to the House of Lestrange and its heirs in perpetuity (as of 2nd November 2004). Terms of Indenture transferred to Harry James Potter as Lord Black as of 2__nd__ August 2008)._

_Vital Statistics – Height: 1.77 metres Weight: 55.3 kilograms_

_Comments – Physical analysis suggests three broken or fractured ribs, all subsequently healed. Exposure to the Cruciatus Curse or similar. Multiple uses of a stasis charm upon them. Extensive signs of malnourishment. Muscular strength diminished. Lack of exposure to sunlight._

_Recommendations – Three or four months rest and recuperation combined with exercise to rebuild muscular strength. Potions regimen to regain weight and through medical examination in the near future. Also a neurological examination to assess the damage done through the Cruciatus Curse or similar. Suggest therapy._

* * *

"She wasn't 'interfered' with?" asked Hermione nervously.

"No, or at least not that we could see. She might say different," replied the goblin. "I'll have the assessments for the other two shortly."

"Thanks."

"Can I suggest that for their recovery, you put them somewhere completely opposite to a manor or country house, it will help them recover."

"I'll speak to Harry, I think I know of just a place!" smiled Hermione.

"What's the date Percy?"

"August 2nd 2008."

"So I've missed four years of my life!"

"God if I could still get my hands on Lestrange!"

"She's dead, Mum blew her to bits when she tried to kill Ginny."

"Every cloud has a silver lining," Penny mused.

"So to sum up, You-Know-Who was defeated by Harry just over four years ago, Lestrange is dead and I've been a prisoner in that gloomy mansion with two American girls ever since until today when Harry inherits us."

"Yes, and you were kept under a memory charm and what looks at the moment to be a permanent contract of indenture by Lestrange and were intended for the next Lord Black – in this case Harry, but if Harry didn't survive you would have gone to Draco Malfoy." Percy grimaced.

"So what happens now?"

"I don't know, you've got to recover and I know Harry isn't too good with this whole 'indentured servant' thing you are under but he won't treat you any differently. He and Hermione are probably going to try and find a way to break all three contracts. But for now you've got to rest and start recovering from what you've been through."

"And you?"

"I need to apologise to you."

"Percy-"

"No, let me say it," the red head put his hand up to stop her. "I was a moron who sacrificed those he loved for his career and I didn't see the error of my ways until it was too late. Penny, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have destroyed what we had. I should have been there to protect you from Lestrange."

"Percy, you couldn't have stopped her."

"Penny can we try again?"

"Only if you promise not to make the same mistakes again and suck up to whoever the Minister for Magic is. Who is he again?"

"Kingsley Shacklebolt, and no I won't be sucking up to him, I work in a different department now." Penelope weakly punched him in the arm. "But yes I won't go and repeat my mistakes," and with that Penny hugged him again.

* * *

"One down, two to go." Harry said to nobody in particular.

"I've got their reports here," said Ava who passed him two pieces of parchment.

* * *

_GOBLIN MEDICAL SERVICES_

_Patient – Sophia Alexandra Lynd (Born: September 12__th__ 1989 to Michael and Barbara Lynd (nee Harris) (muggles) Age: 18)_

_Current Status – Originally indentured as a servant to the House of Lestrange and its heirs in perpetuity (as of 4__th__ November 2004). Terms of Indenture transferred to Harry James Potter as Lord Black as of 2__nd__ August 2008)._

_Vital Statistics – Height: 1.72 metres Weight: 52.4 kilograms_

_Comments – Physical analysis suggests the patient had broken her left leg at the tibia, subsequently healed, not properly realigned as the patient has a slight limp. Exposure to the Cruciatus Curse or similar. Multiple uses of a stasis charm. Extensive signs of malnourishment. Muscular strength diminished. Lack of exposure to sunlight._

_Recommendations – Corrective surgery to properly heal the broken tibia. Three or four months rest and recuperation combined with exercise to rebuild muscular strength. Potions regimen to regain weight and through medical examination in the near future. Also a neurological examination to assess the damage done through the Cruciatus Curse or similar. Suggest therapy._

* * *

All three pieces of parchment were very similar in their assessment.

_GOBLIN MEDICAL SERVICES_

_Patient – Kathryn Louise Holland (Born: December 27th 1989 to James and Sarah Holland (nee Parker) (muggles) Age: 18)_

_Current Status – Originally indentured as a servant to the House of Lestrange and its heirs in perpetuity (as of 8__th__ November 2004). Terms of Indenture transferred to Harry James Potter as Lord Black as of 2__nd__ August 2008)._

_Vital Statistics – Height: 1.73 metres Weight: 51.9 kilograms_

_Comments – Physical analysis suggests the patient had broken her right index and middle fingers, subsequently healed but not perfectly. Exposure to the Cruciatus Curse or similar. Multiple uses of a stasis charm. Extensive signs of malnourishment. Muscular strength diminished. Lack of exposure to sunlight._

_Recommendations – Corrective surgery to align the broken fingers. Three or four months rest and recuperation combined with exercise to rebuild muscular strength. Potions regimen to regain weight and through medical examination in the near future. Also a neurological examination to assess the damage done through the Cruciatus Curse or similar. Suggest therapy._

* * *

"What about the memory charms applied upon them?" asked Hermione who had joined Harry and Ava.

"Phoebe is checking them for a magical signature now." Ava replied.

"Penny and Percy are having a long conversation and he's bringing her up to speed."

"Good," replied Harry.

"Harry, I've had an idea. Obviously the three of them need time to recuperate and I was thinking that we could take them to Lakeland." Hermione suggested.

"Lakeland? Where's that?" Harry asked, confused.

"Your island in the Caribbean, or have you forgotten that you've just come into the largest magical inheritance in the last century?" Hermione retorted.

"Oh, yeah. I suppose."

"You've got an island in the Caribbean? I didn't know that. The sun, sand and surf should be perfect for their recovery." Phoebe said as she entered the conversation.

"Hermione, you think of everything." Harry beamed at her, "I'll get Kreacher to take a look as soon as I can."

"Phoebe are the other two ready?"

"Sophia, the younger of the two is."

"And Kathryn?"

"The magical signature is different, Harry might have to perform the counter charm."

"You go first with Sophia and then we'll look at Kathryn." Harry said.

This time with a little more confidence went behind the screen that shielded Sophia from view.

"Hello, I'm only here to help." Sophia smiled weakly up at her before Hermione performed the counter-charm. "_Restitutio Mentis Reficere."_ This time Hermione performed the charm correctly the first time. The effect on Sophia was instantaneous.

"Whoa, where am I? Who are you? What am I doing here?" the young American brunette exclaimed before sitting up on the bed.

"Sophia, I'm Hermione Granger you're in the London branch of Gringotts Bank. I just removed a memory charm placed on you by Bellatrix Lestrange. You were held under it for four years." Hermione patiently explained.

"Hermione, that's an unusual name. London you say?" Hermione nodded. "I'm a long way from home then, I live in Massachusetts. What's the date?"

"August 2nd 2008."

"It's been that long?"

"What do you last remember doing before they placed you under that charm?"

"H'mmm...I was visiting my aunt in London and all of a sudden these masked men appeared and kidnapped me. We apparated to this large run-down mansion. It was dark and gloomy. There were already two girls there. Then I remember signing a piece of parchment and then everything went black until a little house elf with a bullfrog voice came and brought us out of there."

"That was Kreacher."

"Kreacher?"

"He's my friend's house elf."

"Oh."

"So you don't remember anything happening between signing that piece of parchment and Kreacher getting you out of there."

"Only a lot of pain."

"Cruciatus Curse followed by stasis charm," Hermione murmured recalling the diagnoses of all three witches.

"I'm not going back there am I?" Sophia grasped Hermione with a look of fear in her eyes.

"Oh, God no. The people who kidnapped you are either dead or in Azkaban."

"That's good to know. What's Azkaban?"

"The British magical prison. It's on an island in the North Sea."

"So what happens now?"

"Well, do you know how we can contact your parents? My friend has got places in New Hampshire and New York. And then we can find and break the contract you signed because that indentured you to my friend Harry Potter. He inherited the contract today and so we are all here, you, Penny and Kathryn. Kathryn is American and Penny is British."

"Will Harry mind?"

"No, he only wants to help, he hated the people who caught you."

"That's good to know. Is he the same Harry Potter that that Dark Wizard Voldemort wanted? I remember reading about him in _Magical America Today _back home."

"The very same. He defeated him just over three years ago."

"So there were three of us in that house? Yes held under a stasis charm I think. It's broken now of course. Penny Clearwater was an old friend of ours and was held with you and Kathryn."

"The American one."

"She's a couple of months older than you."

"What's her last name?"

"Holland, Kathryn Holland."

"Kathy? She was one of my friends at school. I didn't recognise her when I saw her! Will she be OK?"

"She's in a very similar position to you."

"Will she recover?"

"Yes." Hermione replied, 'even if I can't reverse the charm, Harry can, and there's always the Elder Wand.' Hermione thought to herself.

"How long do we have to stay here for?"

"Hopefully, we can get you out of here today but we want all three of you to be thoroughly examined at St. Mungo's – that's our hospital by the way and then we can book flights to the States and we can reconnect you with your families. The healers are insisting that you rest and recuperate for the next 3 or 4 months so I've suggested to Harry that we take you to Lakeland which is Harry's island in the Caribbean."

"He has a private island? Seriously he must be loaded."

"As of this morning yes. It's all part of his inheritance."

"He is one lucky guy!"

"Yes he is!" Hermione smiled.

"How long have you known him for?"

"Nearly a decade. We didn't like each other at first that was until he saved my life."

"What happened?"

"Well, it all happened during our first Hallowe'en at Hogwarts…" and Hermione starting recalling the story of Quirrell's troll.

* * *

Phoebe was listening to them on the other side of the screen before going back to Harry. "They're deep in conversation, something about a troll at Hallowe'en. I haven't heard that before."

"It's how Ron and I became friends with Hermione. I'll tell you about it at some time."

"Seeing as they look like they are becoming the best of friends, how about we see what we can do for Kathryn Holland."

"What was the wand movement? I know the incantation."

"Three figures of eight clockwise, followed by two circles counter clockwise and then a flick." Phoebe then demonstrated it.

"The wand won't matter?"

"Lestrange didn't put the memory charm on her so it shouldn't. Do you want me to be in there with you?"

"Please."

* * *

_A/N: A bit short I know. I was running out of steam, this might not continue until I revise some parts of it, of course any ideas are welcome! I have had some ideas for another story… But please review and use the buttons down at the bottom of the page. Until next time..._

___(EDITED: 30-09-14)_


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